First Aid Course in Canberra. Nationally Recognised Certificate. Free First Aid Manual. Free First Aid CPR Face Mask. Free Parking at Venues.
A YOUNG Sydney woman, who thought she had fallen ill with the flu, says she was shocked when told she was just 30 minutes from death.
Lily O’Connell from Paddington, was enjoying Christmas with her family last year she was started feeling unwell that evening.
Vomiting and suddenly developing a rash on her face, the 23-year-old was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with the meningococcal W strain.
“I turned the light on and I saw the rash on her face,” Lily’s mum Steph O’Connelltold the ABC.
“It was underneath her skin.”
Lily developed a rash all over her face from the disease.Source:Supplied
After her diagnosis, Lily was told by doctors at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital that she could have been dead within 30 minutes if she’d ignored her symptoms.
“I am just so lucky I lived three minutes away from the hospital because the doctors told me later that I was only about 30 minutes away from that being it for me,’ she told Fairfax.
“If I’d waited any longer I probably wouldn’t have made it.”
Lily, who still suffers from renal and adrenal failure, spent eight days in intensive care, and a total of three weeks in hospital. But she credits her mum for saving her life.
“Thankfully mum had a sixth sense,” she said. “I think that’s what saved me, that fast response.”
The disease destroyed Lily’s kidneys, and she currently spends five hours each day on dialysis. Her sister, Grace, will be donating a kidney in two weeks’ time.
Lily could’ve died if she didn’t get to the hospital when she did.Source:Facebook
Despite being vaccinated for Meningococcal C, she hadn’t received the injection for the W strain.
At a press conference on Sunday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a meningococcal vaccination program for school students in years 10 and 11 will be rolled out across the state in a bid to immunise the community against the disease.
More than 200,000 students have been vaccinated against multiple strains of meningococcal since 2017 in a $17 million program.
The state-funded program includes the less common W strain because it has an eight per cent mortality rate — twice as high as other meningococcal strains — and diagnoses are on the rise.
The W strain became a concern for the state’s health authorities after diagnoses quadrupled between 2014 and 2016.
Lily thought she had the flu on Christmas Day.Source:Facebook
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant said adolescents were being targeted by the program because schools are an effective way to immunise high numbers of an at-risk group.
The vaccine is also available for purchase for the wider community and Dr Chant urged people to remain vigilant for symptoms as spring usually brings an increase in meningococcal cases.
“If you experience symptoms including a sudden onset of fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, neck stiffness, joint pain or rash of red-purple spots, go straight to your nearest emergency department to seek help,” Dr Chant said.
“Acting quickly can save your life.”
— with AAP
Book a first aid course today at www.canberrafirstaid.com