Meningitis wiped out my memory

ALIVE to tell the tale . . . Paul Metcalfe and his wife Pat

MENINGITIS wiped five months from Paul Metcalfe’s memory, and left him with a legacy of confusion, intolerance to noise, tinnitus and lower back pain

He still suffers from short-term memory loss, with his worst experience coming in Spindles Shopping Centre, Oldham, when he suddenly failed to recognise his wife, Pat.

“I had gone out for some fresh air, and when Pat approached and started to talk to me I didn’t know who she was,” he recalled.

“It didn’t last long, but it was frightening and left me confused.”

Yet, said Paul: “I consider myself to be quite lucky — I didn’t lose any limbs and I am still alive.”

That was down to Pat who took him a cup of tea when he was ill in bed — just as a purplish rash appeared on his leg.

She pressed a glass against the rash and when it didn’t disappear, she recognised it could be a symptom of meningitis and rushed him to the Royal Oldham Hospital.

Doctors pumped him with antibiotics, and said if they had left it another half hour, it would have been too late.

That was nine years ago, and Paul, now aged 45, is still unable to go back to the job he loved.

He was an aircraft engineer, and although he still works for the company, he now works in an office: “I can’t work on the tools anymore.

“I get overcome by a lot of sound, it’s like there’s too much information to absorb and my brain won’t process it,” he said.

The father-of-four recalled: “I was working nights and I got a stiff neck, I ached all over, and felt like I had flu. My temperature went through the roof and I started projectile vomiting.

“I was in and out of consciousness, it gripped me so quickly, in the space of six hours. My kidneys had started to play up by the time I got to hospital. I was hooked up to all sorts of machines.

“I don’t remember any of it, or anything of the next five months,” he said.

Paul, who lives in Garden Suburb, and has five grandchildren, spoke out to support Meningitis UK’s Look Out 4 Meningitis, Look Out 4 Others campaign, to show swift treatment can mean the difference between life and death.

“It’s such a nasty thing and so simple to treat provided you get it soon enough,” he said. “If I can get one person to hospital and save them losing limbs I feel I will have done a good job.”

Winter traditionally sees a surge in cases of meningitis, and people of all ages are at risk from the deadly brain disease, which can kill in under four hours.

The charity is urging Oldhamers to take up its offer of free posters to display at public buildings such as health centres, schools and nurseries.

Classic symptoms of meningitis are a headache, stiff neck and a dislike of bright light. Other symptoms can include difficulty supporting own weight, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea and confusion and drowsiness. Common symptoms of meningococcal septicaemia include aching limbs, cold hands and feet and a rash which starts like pin prick marks and develops rapidly into purple bruising.

Not everyone gets all the symptoms, and they can appear in any order.

Children under five and those aged 15 to 25 are most at risk, particularly those who have recently suffered from a cold or flu, but the disease can affect anyone of any age.

To request a poster or information pack, call 0117 373 7373 or visit www.meningitisuk.org