A young meningitis survivor from Sale is featured alongside some of Britain’s Paralympic heroes in a new exhibition aimed at raising awareness of the disease.
Ben Etheridge, 13, contracted meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia in 2004 at just three years old and was critically ill in hospital for eight weeks.
Fortunately Ben recovered from the disease but even now faces ongoing treatment and leg operations due to the damage the illness caused.
Ben said: “I don’t really remember much about when I was ill as I was so young, but I know I was very lucky to survive.”
Created by the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF), Focus on Meningitis features a mixture of professional and amateur photographs and also marks the charity’s 25th anniversary.
Also featured in the exhibition are paralympians Diana Man and Jonnie Peacock.
Gold medal-winning sprinter and World Champion Peacock lost his right leg below the knee to meningococcal septicaemia almost 16 years ago at the age of five and became an MRF Patron in 2012.
Ben’s mum Christine Etheridge, an ambassador for MRF, said: “We were really delighted to be asked to take part in this exhibition as it highlights the after effects that so many people face if they survive the disease.”
BRAVE: Ben Etheridge contracted meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia in 2004
Brave Ben said he considers his operations to lengthen his leg a small price to pay, having met a lot of people over the last 10 years who have lost limbs to meningitis.
Founded in 1989 to help find solutions to meningitis, MRF spreads awareness and supports those affected and continues the battle against the illness which affects around 3,400 people in the UK and Ireland each year.
MRF Chief Executive Christopher Head said: “Meningitis and septicaemia strike fear in the hearts of parents and medical professionals alike. They are frightening diseases which can kill or seriously disable in a matter of hours.”
The disease kills more small children than any other infection with young adults also high risk, but people of any age can catch it.
In the UK and Ireland around nine people contract meningitis or septicaemia every day. One in 10 of those will die and a quarter of those who survive are left with life-altering consequences ranging from deafness, blindness, epilepsy and mental impairment to multiple amputations.
MRF estimates the life-long costs to the UK Government of someone severely disabled by these diseases, is £3m – £4.5m per person.
It is thanks to the introduction of vaccines for Hib, MenC and 13 strains of pneumococcal meningitis and septicaemia that the charity has seen cases of meningitis and septicaemia in the UK and Ireland halve in the charity’s 25 year existence.
The charity expects that further lives will be saved when the long campaigned-for vaccine against MenB is introduced into the UK’s infant immunisation schedule.
Mr Head added: “These diseases still affect thousands of individuals and their families every single year. Focus on Meningitis captures some of their remarkable stories. Stories we believe should be shared.”
To view to gallery, visit http://www.meningitis.org/focusonmeningitis#
Picture courtesy of Giulietta Verdon-Roe, with thanks.
