A teenager, who lost her legs and fingers after mistaking meningitis symptoms for that of a common cold, has spoken out about her experience in an effort to raise awareness of the illness.
With infants, toddlers and teens most susceptible to the potentially fatal illness, Charlotte Hannibal wants to highlight the symptoms which resulted in her hospitalisation last February.
Explaining that the illness began with a sore throat, Charlotte quickly deteriorated until she was eventually hospitalised after being taken home from university by her incredibly concerned parents.
Within a few hours of experiencing her first symptom, Charlotte was in grave danger, telling Meningitis Now: “By 6:30pm I had suffered from complete organ failure and had only just developed a slight rash on my eyelids.”
For 17 days, Charlotte from Nottinghamshire fought off the infection which doctors initially thought was a case of leukaemia.
According to a report in The Independent, Charlotte awoke with no memory of the past two and a half weeks, explaining: "I was left with severe memory loss so was unable to remember being ill at all. My hearing was also damaged and, at this stage, I was unable to move anything but my eyes and mouth."
Outlining the ordeal she ensured as part of her recovery, Charlotte continued: "Due to severe scarring, my kidneys no longer work at the necessary rate, so I will be on dialysis every night until a kidney transplant can be achieved."
"While I still have to attend multiple rehabilitation appointments, and spend four days a week at the hospital, I'm very grateful to be alive," she continued while urging young people to avail of the Men AWCY vaccination if at all possible.
Commenting on the disease which affects a great number of young people, Meningitis Now chief executive, Sue Davie, said: "Over 12 per cent of all cases occur in the 14 to 24 age group, with first year students being at particular risk. It’s vital that students are not complacent about the threat of meningitis - we urge them to take up this lifesaving vaccine."
19-year-old Charlotte, who lost both her legs beneath the knee and all the fingers on her left hand, was allowed to return home last June.
