“I felt inclined to explore the route of self-care and self-compassion through movement, nutrition and wellbeing.”
Teacher Olivia, from Sheffield, was 27 when she contracted pneumococcal meningitis in 2022.
It left her profoundly deaf, but channelling self-care, diet and exercise is turning her life around. She now feels completely reborn and the happiest she has ever felt, as she tells us here.
“I was a secondary school teacher, thriving in my career but under a lot of pressure and stress. I noticed extreme head pain at the end of the school day and asked a teacher to turn my classroom lights off as they were leaving my class.
“I got home and I couldn’t cope with the head pain. I tried to go for a walk. I coughed on my walk and it sent throbbing pains across my neck, which became stiff. That night, I woke up multiple times and was sick due to the pain and dizziness.
“I called my GP who asked me to go in that morning. I found it really difficult to stay awake. I was in the GP surgery for 45 minutes and he sent me to hospital with suspected viral meningitis. I waited in hospital all day and was kept in overnight and started on antibiotics as a precaution for bacterial meningitis, even though they didn’t think it was this. I began to deteriorate so I was placed in ICU.
Quarantined to a room alone
“My lumbar puncture came back a few days later with bacterial meningitis and I was quarantined to a room alone due to the bacteria risk. My family were told to prepare for the worst. I stayed in hospital for a while and eventually was sent home on an IV drip to continue medication with a district nurse.
“I was left with profound hearing loss with the need for hearing aids, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), severe migraines and confusion. I was told I would have more than likely contracted this from the workplace as my immune system was weak from stress and children are carriers of bacteria/viruses.
“I had a few months off work to navigate my life of having zero energy, chronic pain, sharp headaches and adapting to hearing loss, but decided I did not want to let it defeat me and returned to teaching in 2023 on supply to ease the stress a little bit. However, this was a huge mistake.
Contracted meningitis again
“To my shock, I contracted meningitis again in September 2024. I had the exact same symptoms that I had the first time and I just knew I had it again. I was sent to hospital urgently, put on medication through IV again and had a lumbar puncture which confirmed meningitis. Due to the trauma, I became extremely depressed, anxious and diagnosed with PTSD. It also worsened my original symptoms from the first bout of the disease.
“I had an extremely difficult few months and decided to leave my teaching career behind me as I could not be in stressful environments as it wasn't good for my nervous system. I felt so hopeless and felt like I was never going to get better. The medication I was on was only to manage symptoms, not cure me, but many of them made my symptoms worse and I would do things that were strange.
Took matters into my own hands
“At the start of 2025, I decided to take matters into my own hands because I was fed up of existing with pain and suffering. I began researching nutrition for people with chronic pain and illness, and movement for people with chronic pain and illness.
Upon research, I found lots of interesting things. I decided to look at my diet and lifestyle and came across anti-inflammatory and wholefoods. I decided to swap my diet, cut all of the processed stuff out and to my surprise I felt so much better within myself and much more energised despite having CFS.
“Once I became healthier in my mind and conscious of what I was putting into my body, I decided to trial light movement and discovered pilates. Straight after my first class, everything clicked. I felt refreshed, had complete clarity, I felt relaxed but like I had worked hard at the same time. I felt inclined to explore the route of self-care and self-compassion through movement, nutrition and wellbeing.
“I decided to retrain and become a qualified nutrition coach and a pilates instructor. I am also running the London Marathon for meningitis in 2026, something I never thought I would be able to do.
“I can’t believe how different my life looks now to what it has been for the past three years and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I never thought I would recover, and I still have bad days (plus my hearing loss is permanent), but I feel completely reborn and the happiest I have ever felt!”
