Mum suffers effects of meningitis 20 years on
A DERBY mum who survived a severe case of meningitis has revealed she still suffers from the effects more than 20 years later.
Natalie Bamford, 36, from Spondon, first contracted the illness when she was 10 and, thanks to her parents’ quick reactions, was able to receive prompt treatment.
While Natalie doesn’t remember much of her time in hospital, her parents have told her about it frequently so she can commit it to memory.
She said: “A doctor said I needed an ambulance. I got taken into intensive care and I developed a rash which I believe they call sepsis now, which meant they knew it was meningitis.
“Doctors started to hit me with the drugs and took my parents into a separate room and they told them to contact our relatives and ask them to come to the hospital to say their goodbyes.
“We were told that the next 48 hours were critical.”
Natalie explained how the rash reached her thigh but was prevented from spreading any further, which could have led to an amputation.
As a further side effect, Natalie was diagnosed with secondary epilepsy, suffering from seizures for two years before the effects wore off.
But, the long term effects have meant that Natalie still suffers with memory problems now, and is unable to recall her wedding day or the birth of her two daughters, Lola and Poppy.
She takes plenty of photos in order to remember moments as best she can, and has more than 35,000 pictures stored on her phone.
However, Natalie knows she is lucky to be alive. She said: “I could have died or lost my limbs, so I’m grateful that my memory loss is the only issue which I have been left with.
“I feel lucky to be alive and am very grateful. It could have been a hell of a lot worse for me and I just feel grateful for life every day.”
Now, Natalie is enjoying success with the business she set up with her husband Adam, 35, at the start of the pandemic. They launched the business, Colleague Box, after sending letters and packages to her work friends.
She said: “It wasn’t really supposed to become a business, it was more of a side project where we were sending out gift boxes to our colleagues where we worked at the time to spread a bit of joy and happiness when we were all having to work from home.
“Some other businesses got wind of what we’d done and asked if we could make them some boxes and it just kind of spiralled from there.
Natalie has sold more than 100,000 boxes and turned over £1 million and the business has been nominated for several awards in recognition of their hard work during the pandemic.