Little Amelia was five-months-old when she fell ill in February 2010. She had a high temperature and was vomiting her feeds but seemed happy in herself so we thought she was just teething. Her big brother Patrick, four, had been a bit sniffly too
"Suddenly, at about 11am things took a turn for the worse. Amelia was on her play mat on the floor and had been quiet for a while. I thought she was asleep but then noticed her eyes were open."
"I picked her up quickly and realised that although awake she was staring up to one side and was stiff. She was completely unresponsive and her lips looked blue.
"I rushed her to the hospital where she was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis.
"Luckily, and thanks to the wonderful staff at the Leeds General Infirmary, our girl survived although when she was discharged the nurse admitted when we came in they didn't think she would last the night.
"She now has epilepsy which we manage with drugs and she has to have a 'rescue' med with her at all times in case she has a bad seizure. She also has clouding on the right side of her brain and we won’t know what effects this will have on her development, if any, but we have to keep an eye on her milestones and keep our fingers crossed.
"We're ever so proud of our big fighting girl, and we know now that whatever the future holds, she's tough enough to take it."
