The Voice star Megan Reece: My battle with viral meningitis
"The pain was horrendous – it was like someone had hit me with a hammer."
These are the words of The Voice star Megan Reece, of Wolverhampton, who is on the road to recovery after suffering with viral meningitis.
The 29-year-old music star, who appeared in the hit BBC show earlier this year, has spoken of the illness which left her unable to walk for months.
"I was at the after party in London when I started to get this terrible headache. It was so bad I had to leave the party early.
"It was like someone had hit me with a hammer. I woke up the next day and was vomiting and shaking. I thought I had food poisoning. I drove back from London in a daze, I thought I was going to fall asleep at the wheel."
Megan called her husband James Giles, 26, home from work on April 11, unable to get out of bed.
"He took one look at me and said he was going to call a doctor out. My GP wasn't available, so he rang 101 and explained my symptoms. They sent an ambulance out to me straight away." Megan was taken to New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, where doctors told her she needed a CT scan and a lumbar puncture.
"They told me I was close to falling into a coma. Everyone kept saying meningitis. I kept hearing it, but I didn't think that would be the diagnosis. As a mother you're always on the look out for symptoms like that in your children, but you never think it will happen to you."
Megan was released from hospital in a wheelchair a week later. "I only started walking properly again about a month ago. The physio described it as chronic muscle fatigue or weakness, so I've had to learn how to do everything again," she said.
But the viral infection has had a long-lasting effect on the mother of four, as she now suffers with epilepsy.
"I started having seizures as a result of the virus, so now I'm taking medication."
Now Megan hopes her experience will raise awareness of the condition.
"You don't hear a lot about the viral form of meningitis" she said. "So if my story can help other people keep an eye out for the signs and symptoms, that would really help me on the road to recovery."
