When Hannah Laffoley Was Struck Down with the Killer Brain Bug Meninigitis, Her Family

When Hannah Laffoley was struck down with the killer brain bug meninigitis, her family were worried about her getting it again.
But the doctors were reassuring and told her worried mother that Hannah would have more chance of being struck by lightening twice than getting the bug again.
But Hannah went onto to defy the doctors predictions, by not only getting it again - but another SIX times over an incredible 14 years.
She has set a UK record to become the only person in the UK to ever have suffered meninigits seven times.
She has been on a life support machine, has lost the hearing in her right ear and has contracted epilespy too as a result of getting the brain bug so many times.
But amazingly she has pulled through each time - much to the amazement of doctors.
Miss Laffoley, 19, who lives in Brimingham with her mother Esme, 41, said: ‘It has been terrible for mum, seeing me fight for life so many times like this.
‘But I don’t feel unlucky - I just feel so lucky that I’ve pulled through each time. Mum and I celebrate birthdays triple times over, as we are so glad that I’m alive.’
Hannah was first struck down with meningitis in October 1993 when she was five years old.
She said: ‘I complained to my father Guy that I didn’t feel very well. I was shivery and hot, with flu like symptoms. My dad rang the doctor and he came out to see me, but he said it was a virus and it would clear up.
But an hour later I felt even worse, and I couldn’t even watch television as the bright lights were hurting my eyes. Dad called an ambulance and it was so lucky he did. The ambulance arrived and I was carried inside, where my heart stopped and I lost consciousness.’
Hannah was rushed to Charing Cross Hospital and doctors wanted to airlift her to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for emergency treatment, but they were worried that her heart wouldn’t stand the strain of being airlifted. So they rushed her there by ambulance instead.
She was put on a life support machine and doctors told her parents that she had a nil chance of survival. Even if she did miraculously survive, she would be completely brain damaged.
Miss Laffoley said: ‘They were devastated. But I held on and after a couple of days, I had improved enough to come out of the coma. They couldn’t believe it - but they still thought I was going to be brain damaged.’
Luckily tests showed no brain damage had occurred. But it took Hannah 12 months to learn to walk again properly
Her parents were worried in case she contracted the bug again, but doctors said that she was more likely to get struck by lightening twice.
She said: ‘We put it all behind us and got on with our lives. and for five years everything was fine.’
But then in March 1999, she got the familiar symptoms back. She had a severe headache, and an aversion to bright lights.
Miss Laffoley said: ‘ Mum was straight on the phone to the doctor, who said I couldn’t possibly have meninigitis a second time. He said it was more likely that I just had flu.
‘But we weren’t taking any chances - not after what had happened last time. As soon as mum put the phone down, she rang the ambulance straight away. And it was lucky she did. My heart was threatening to stop, and I went into another coma when I reached the hospital.
‘I was unconsious for two days, and again the doctors had grim news. They told mum that if I came out alive, I was definitely have brain damage.
‘She stayed by my bedside, praying that I would recover. Then after two days amazingly I woke up. And there wasn’t any sign of brain damage. The doctors were amazed.’
Then in February 2000, she was diagnosed with the bug for the third time.
She said: ‘ The doctors couldn’t find a reason for me getitng it the first two times, but I’d only been off the treatment for six weeks after the second time, so they thought it might not have completely gone away.
‘This time I was left with no hearing in my right ear at all. The meningitis had left me completely deaf on the right side, with no chance of the hearing returning.
‘At the time I was only 12, and I didn’t realise just how lucky I was to be alive.’
Unbelievably she then had meningitis another four times - in June 2000, then in March 2006 for the fifth time, then in September 2006, and the final time was in January this year.
She said: ‘ When I went to hospital with the now familiar symptoms for the fourth time, the doctors thought I was actually making it up. They didn’t believe that anyone could have it four times. But mum demanded that they give me a lumbar puncture, which showed that I did have it.
‘The doctors just can’t believe that anyone could have it so many times. I have now set a UK record. There is no-one in the UK who has ever had it as many times as me. And I’m still here to tell the tale.’
When she was 15 Hannah went for tests at Great Ormond Street, and they found that her spleen wasn’t working effectively, so doctors thought that could be why she was getting meninigitis so often, because her immune system wasn’t as effective as it could be.
The doctors put me on a double dose of penicillin, but she has since had it several times since.
She added: ‘No one knows whether I will get it again - or how to stop me ever getting it again. I’ve had vaccinations for every type of meninigitis going, but that didn’t work either. But if I’ve survived it seven times already, then I’ll survive it again. It hasn’t beaten me yet. ‘
Hannah’s mother Esme Laffoley said: ‘Not many children are as lucky as Hannah. She really is a miracle. The early stages of meninigitis look like flu, so people must be aware.
‘I thought she wasn’t going to come out the hospital, especially the last time. But she’s still here.’
A spokesperson for the Menigitis Trust said: ‘ Hannah’s case is very rare and she is lucky to have survived so many episodes of bacterial meninigitis. The cases aren’t linked, and it is extremely unusual for someone to experience meninigitis more than once.’
There are approximately 3,000 cases of meningitis reported each year in the UK. It can kill within hours and can affect anyone at any time. Those most at risk are children under the age of five, teenagers and young adults, and people over 55.
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