Agony of teen who faces losing her toes to meningitis
A TEENAGER who nearly died from meningitis has shared photos of her rash-covered body from her hospital bed to raise awareness of the disease.
Charlene Colechin, 18, posted the images on Facebook, saying: ‘These are not nice photos but this is the reality of what meningitis can do.’
She is wired up to machines with her limbs covered in purple blotches. The ends of her toes are black and she faces losing them. Miss Colechin has spent a month in hospital fighting bacterial meningitis, including nine days in a medically induced coma, and said she feels lucky to be alive.
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes around the brain. Most cases of bacterial meningitis, which is more serious than the viral form, are caused by meningococcal bacteria which can cause septicaemia, or blood poisoning, at the same time.
Hair stylist Miss Colechin from Inkersall, near Chesterfield, became ill at home after work. She said: ‘I was screamand ing with pain. I kept throwing up, had a really bad headache and all my body was aching.’
Paramedics called out on September 6 thought she had flu as there were no tell-tale marks on her body. But her condition worsened overnight when marks appeared the next day she was taken to Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
‘All my organs were failing,’ she said. ‘What was happening outside of my body was happening inside, poisoning my blood. I did die, but obviously they brought me back.’
Her condition was stabilised and she was transferred to Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital where she is waiting to find out which parts of her feet will need amputating.
Most victims of the disease make a good recovery but it can kill if not caught quickly. Survivors can lose their hearing or sight as well as limbs. Vaccines offer protection but are not available for all forms.
Symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia include fever, vomiting, cold hands or feet, a rash, a stiff neck and delirium.
‘All my organs were failing’