I was a healthy 18-year-old when I was struck down with flu-like symptoms. This ... trends now
Claudia Gill was only 18 when she came within hours of death as meningococcal attacked her body.
Two years on, the university student is warning everyone to beware of the symptoms.
After coming home from an extended holiday in Queensland, the New South Wales woman was struck with fatigue, her ears were very sensitive to sound and a ringing echoed in her head.
Her neck stiffened, she was vomiting and fainted.
The young woman was rushed to hospital and doctors figured out she had a potentially deadly meningococcal B bacterial infection. Doctors told her had she arrived at hospital any later there was a good chance she would have died.
Assignment Freelance Picture NSW woman Claudia Gill was struck with meningococcal in 2022
Assignment Freelance Picture NSW woman Claudia Gill was struck with meningococcal in 2022
Her recovery took five nights in hospital, weeks of rest and slowly getting back into work and study. Two years on Ms Gill gets more regular and intense headaches.
Once she was out of hospital she wanted to find the community of people who have had the disease, and learn about what attacked her body.
From there Ms Gill started speaking with community and advocacy groups, and realised she would be a good test case for advocacy about the disease.
'It comes on so quickly ... it was pretty scary,' Ms Gill said.
She wants people to be aware of the symptoms so they can act quickly should they suspect an infection.
Ms Gill only got a minor rash, which tends to be a later symptom often
