"On 23 May 2010, when I was five years old, I got taken into hospital in the middle of the night because I was sick.
"My mum found a scar on the top of my leg, and later that night I got rushed to Alder Hey Children’s hospital in Liverpool where I got diagnosed with MenB and septicaemia.
"On the way in the ambulance I went into a coma and woke up a week later. A week or so after that I had seven of my fingers amputated. I had a drip and had to get fed by a tube; I also had to get my blood cleaned on a machine twice a day. I was only allowed to stay in bed, so I wasn’t up and about walking - when I tried to stand up my scars kept getting stuck on my bed sheets. With help from the doctors and nurses and support from my family, I managed to conquer meningitis after six weeks in hospital. Since that time I have become a very strong person and won’t let anything stand in my way.
"I have been picked on because of my fingers and scars, but it doesn’t bother me because I know that it has made me brave and strong, and makes me feel like a very lucky person to survive a serious illness.
"I am now in a swimming club - it can’t stop me from doing anything! Meningitis Now has helped to make me a stronger and more self confident person. It has helped me to not let anything stand in my way. I went to a Family Day, where I met other people who have experienced the same or worse than me. It has made me feel like a very lucky person. Meningitis doesn’t really have an impact on me now. No-one notices about my fingers unless I tell them. It doesn’t make me any different from anyone else that I know.
"My motto is: Be strong. Be confident. Be brave."
