Turning the spotlight on a deadly disease
WHEN student Chloe Richardson began to feel poorly with a headache and stiff neck, she thought it was just a case of fatigue after a busy Christmas.
But within a couple of days she was fighting for her life in the intensive care unit at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
Sixteen-year-old Chloe was gravely ill with meningococcal meningitis and her family faced an agonising start to 2008 while doctors and nurses battled to save her life. Chloe is convinced that without the prompt action of her mum and medical staff she would not have pulled through and she is determined to highlight the dangers of the deadly disease.
Together with her friends at Rastrick High School and at Exit 25 Theatre School in Brighouse, Chloe has raised 325 for the Meningitis Trust which works to help and support those struggling to cope with the impact and after-effects of meningitis or associated septicaemia.
Six months on, Chloe is fully recovered and back to her bubbly self though she believes she tires more quickly than she used to. She is waiting for the results of her GCSEs, has a part-time job and is busy practising for her LAMDA acting exams at Exit 25 on July 13.
Her brush with meningitis has had a dramatic impact on her outlook on life. "It has made me realise that, if there's anything I want to do, I should get on and do it," said Chloe who loves acting and performing. "Nothing is going to stop me achieving my goal."
Chloe started to feel unwell with a headache and stiff neck just after Christmas but believed she had picked up a flu bug. However when she woke up on December 29 her condition was so grave that her family was seriously concerned.
Chloe's mum, Mrs Rebecca Richardson, said: "The frightening thing was that Chloe became so ill so fast that morning. She had been very sick in the night and was so weak and then when I saw the rash I knew we had to get her to hospital. The rash seemed to spread over her body before our eyes."
For Chloe the three days in intensive care are a confused blur. "All I remember is getting out of the ambulance – then waking up in intensive care. I had been unconscious most of the time. At one time the doctors weren't even able to tell my mum if I was going to make it or not."
For the Richardson family there was an agonising wait while the intensive course of antibiotics took hold. "Chloe seemed to be fighting the irritation on her brain. She was talking rubbish and squeezing my hand so hard. She had a CT scan and was sedated and then it was a question of waiting for the intravenous antibiotics to work," said Rebecca.
Chloe's family also had to be checked for symptoms of the disease and her 11-year-old sister Olivia and close friends had to be given antibiotics as a precautionary measure.
After three days in intensive care, Chloe was moved on to the children's ward and slowly began to regain her strength. It was the end of January before she was allowed to return to school.
"One of the first things I saw when I woke up in hospital was a picture my sister had drawn which was propped up at the end of the bed," said Chloe. “I think it was then I realised how ill I had been.”
As soon as she was back to full health, Chloe decided to start fundraising for the Meningitis Trust. Helped by her friends Francesca Preston and Megan Spear, both 16, she held a collection at Rastrick High School and Exit 25 also stepped in to make a donation.
Julie Fountain, who runs Exit 25: “Chloe played Aladdin in our pantomime just a couple of weeks before she was taken ill. We decided to support her fundraising by donating the proceeds from our recent presentation night to the Meningitis Trust.”
Rebecca, who works at Lloyds Bank in Brighouse, said: “We really didn’t know much about meningitis before this. But early diagnosis is crucial and it’s so important that people are aware of the symptoms. Chloe is a very positive person and she wants other people to know how important it is to get a prompt diagnosis.”
It’s a message that Chloe fully endorses. “I owe my life to my mum because if she hadn’t noticed the rash when she did, or hesitated in calling an ambulance, then I wouldn’t be here now.
“I also owe my life to the fantastic team of doctors and nurses who acted so fast and I can’t begin to say how grateful I am. It is 10 years since Katie Paine, who was also a pupil at Rastrick High, died from meningitis, and that has prompted me to raise money for the trust.”
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Weather for Halifax
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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