Joe, seen here with his daughter Jess, has recently completed the Coventry Half Marathon for us, in an official time of 1 hour 30 mins and 41 secs. He was running for us after we helped the family out when his mum was struck down with meningitis
She survived, but has been left with life-changing after-effects. Joe, from Broughton Astley in Leicestershire, tells their story here.
“My mum contracted meningitis in May 2016 and nearly lost her life."
“After visiting the doctors twice in two days she was sent home and told she had stress and a cold. The following day she took a turn for the worse and ended up being sedated and put into an induced coma."
“My family was informed they were making her comfortable and that any cold or infection would be fatal."
Started to come round
“After two weeks in a coma and despite the odds, she finally started to come round, communicating by sticking out her tongue and putting a thumb up."
“After a long hard six months in hospital my mum returned home."
“Unfortunately, the meningitis resulted in a stroke that caused her to have some severe brain damage, which caused the loss of sight and limited movement in her left-hand side."
Full-time carer
“My dad has given up work to become her full-time carer and recently the house has been adapted to meet her needs."
“I am raising money for Meningitis Now because the charity was very helpful, assisting my dad by buying him a bus pass, which he used to visit my mum in hospital every day for six months, and also funding 15 sessions of counselling."
“This was a big help at the time for my mum as it helped her to come to terms with the loss of sight and the disability.”
Thanks for the support, Joe.
