Woman's bid to raise awareness of '˜horrific' meningitis

By The Newsroom
Published 9th Aug 2016, 18:29 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 23:32 BST
Hollie Tucker from Hastings (with the blue hair) is preparing to have her head shaved and tattooed to raise money for the Meningitis Research Foundation. Hollie was seriously ill after contracting viral meningitis. SUS-160908-165427001Hollie Tucker from Hastings (with the blue hair) is preparing to have her head shaved and tattooed to raise money for the Meningitis Research Foundation. Hollie was seriously ill after contracting viral meningitis. SUS-160908-165427001
Hollie Tucker from Hastings (with the blue hair) is preparing to have her head shaved and tattooed to raise money for the Meningitis Research Foundation. Hollie was seriously ill after contracting viral meningitis. SUS-160908-165427001
A young woman is preparing to shave her hair off and get her head tattooed in a bid to raise awareness of a debilitating illness which left her partially blind and suffering constant headaches.

Hollie Tucker was 23 when she contracted viral meningitis in 2012.

She told the Observer: “My experience with meningitis was horrific.

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“I woke up one day with the most debilitating headache I have ever had and couldn’t even stand up because of the pressure on my head.

“This got slowly worse until I lost the sight in my right eye and it turned inwards.

“I was turned away by four doctors blaming it on a migraine until luckily I saw a doctor who had also had viral meningitis himself and recognised the signs.

“Within half an hour I was rushed to the Conquest Hospital in an ambulance, straight from the doctors.”

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Hollie also experienced sensitivity to light and sound, vomiting and a stiff neck.

She spent a month in hospital before she was finally allowed home.

But Hollie, who lives in Cambridge Gardens in Hastings, has been left with some nasty after effects, which forced her to give up her job as a supervisor at Holland and Barret in Rye.

She said: “Viral meningitis is often played down and seen as the less serious form of meningitis, but it has been shown many people suffer from long term after effects.

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“I still suffer from partial blindness in my right eye, extreme sensitivity to light and sound, problems with my memory and constant headaches.

“It also triggered fibromyalgia which is an illness with a wide range of symptoms which has left me unable to work after working full time since I left school.”

Now Hollie, who turns 28 next month, is to mark her birthday by raising funds for a meningitis charity in a rather unusual fashion.

She said: “I am shaving my hair off on my birthday on September 8 at Goodman barbers in Robertson street.

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