“I was a child of 7 or 8 at the time and I don't remember a lot but from my mother's memories of the time and my own I can piece together what happened.
It was a hot summer's day, so my father made me a tent of sheets and sticks in the back garden.
“I was so happy in it, playing and singing, but suddenly became tired. I fell asleep in it and woke up some time later with a headache. My father told me to lie in a deckchair and have a sleep, but I couldn't because the sunlight kept hurting my eyes. So I went upstairs to have a sleep.
“The next bit is what my mum remembers. She remembers simply thinking it was a headache and going upstairs to close the curtains of my room. However, my father believed it was something else so he called the GP who came and told us that I had meningitis.
“I was sent to the hospital. I don't really remember a lot of what happened next. I do remember I had a drip in my left hand and I slept a lot but not really much else.”
