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Kelly Wilson with her daughter Charlie. Photo by Yorkshire Evening Post
A young mum has recalled the nightmare experience that almost claimed her daughter's life.
On the eve of World Meningitis Day tomorrow, beauty therapist Kelly Wilson, 29, of Churwell, Morley, said Charley was so lucky to survive after falling ill in Bulgaria.
The little girl, now eight, was just two and a half when she had her near-death experience. Doctors in the former Communist country did not expect her to survive.
She came out in purple blotches, had stomach cramps and fits and her heart rate was 163 beats a minute.
by Howard Williamson
Yorkshire Evening Post
"The doctors in Bulgaria said they did not know what was wrong with her," said Kelly, "but they were treating her for meningitis. We heard later she had meningococcal septicaemia.
"She was kept in a horrible hospital but in fact they saved her life. We saw buckets full of syringes and the places was so dirty - it was awful. A nurse said to me: 'You bring this from England.' She was horrible.
"The doctors moved Charley to what I can only call a back street dump. There were bars on the windows and doors and armed guards were outside. They would only allow one parent in the room with Charley and they physically kept my partner Neil out.
"All the time, the doctors were asking: When is the insurance paying?"
But the insurance company, Axa, did a wonderful job, says Kelly. They laid on an air ambulance, a light plane, which first went to Munich to re-fuel and then flew Charley to Leeds where she was rushed to St James's Hospital.
"The staff at Jimmy's said the Bulgarian doctors had saved her life," said Kelly. "But she had to stay in hospital another three weeks. She had pneumonia in both lungs and kidney failure and then had to have hospital appointments for two years.
"Charley couldn't stand up properly and had to learn to walk again. For two years she was quite backward but now she has caught up.
"She has been left with some scars and at one time we thought she might need skin grafts. But we feel she is a very lucky girl.
"After our experience in Bulgaria, I will never knock the NHS again! Bulgaria is 60 years behind us," said Kelly who is a keen supporter of Meningitis UK.
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