Olivia, from Edinburgh, was 36 and living a charmed existence when meningitis struck, leaving her a quadruple amputee. But with determination and hard work, and support from Meningitis Now, she made the physical and mental adjustments to forge her new life, as she tells us here, in support of our No Plan B for MenB Campaign.
“Twenty-three years ago, at 36, I was a commercial property lawyer – a workaholic partner in a large Edinburgh law firm. I was a fit aerobics junky with an enviable social life. I led a charmed existence – out there in the fast lane. I think I thought I was invincible, not in a boastful way, it just didn’t occur to me that my independence and control might not last forever.
“Then out of the blue on the 21 February 2002, on an ordinary hardworking Thursday afternoon when I was struggling with deadlines, hoping to make it to my first ever golf lesson, I began to feel a bit shivery and out of sorts, as if I was going down with flu.
“I felt steadily worse overnight and within just 24 hours from the first signs of illness, I was unconscious in intensive care on life support.
Coma for four weeks
“I remained in a coma for four weeks while doctors fought to save my life. But the meningococcal bacteria in my blood stream had caused my lower arms and legs to become gangrenous and they had to be amputated or I would have died. My knees and elbows were only saved by extensive skin grafting from the rest of my body.
“And so I woke up four weeks later very weak and ill, unable to move and covered in bandages from the neck down and to discover that I had no hands or feet.
“After my life was out of danger and my wounds had begun to heal I underwent a six month residential rehabilitation programme at Astley Ainsley, which is a specialist rehabilitation hospital.
Every day saw a tiny improvement
“When I arrived I could barely move on my special mattress. I was 100% dependent. Gradually my strength and function was restored through fairly relentless exercise and stretching. Every day saw a tiny improvement. I slowly reclaimed my independence and sense of self; learning a new way to live – to hold things, to eat, to brush my teeth, to cook, to put on my makeup. And of course, learning to walk again.
“Returning home brought its own trials, the hardest of which was coming to terms with the brutal contrast between what I had been and what I now was against the background of my familiar surroundings, imbued with poignant memories of another life – my new reflection in my old mirrors.
Made the psychological adjustments
“But inside a year from when I first fell ill, and certainly after I had relearned to drive, I would say that I had made the psychological adjustments and was back to living a fairly normal life.
“It was actually a hospital visit from The Meningitis Trust back in the early days that helped me start to come to terms with what had happened. The explanations and statistics and general information were calming and helped with my acceptance. Since then home visits, counselling around the feelings of loss of my career and identity, which helped with accepting them and moving on, and support through the Rebuilding Futures Fund have all supported this process.
“I went on to organise a large fundraiser for The Meningitis Trust (forerunner of Meningitis Now) and the Meningitis Research Foundation in 2004. The financial director of the Trust was extremely constructively helpful.
Left permanently disabled
“I am permanently disabled and always need allowances to be made for what I can't do or can't do easily. We all worry about how this will work out in old age.
“I can no longer hill walk, which was my hobby and relief from work, and travel is difficult, especially solo.
“I didn't go back to my career as a lawyer – which was my choice – but it has had a huge impact.”