Double trouble until a close call with death

Published on Wednesday 19 September 2007 11:55

THE two girls stood glaring at each other on the hockey pitch. Punches flew as the Musselburgh Grammar teenagers grabbed each other's hair and screamed insults.

Their teammates stood open-mouthed in shock. For this wasn't a fight between team rivals, Natasha and Natalie were twins. And they hated one another.

Five years on and things couldn't be more different between the 23-year-old Cumming sisters, who are now the best of friends.

With Wedding TV on in the background, the twins from Musselburgh talk excitedly about Natalie's forthcoming wedding to fiance Daryl. Natasha will be her sister's chief bridesmaid and, when the sisters aren't busy planning the wedding, they are going to the gym, shopping and socialising together. They even holiday together.

But both girls readily admit if it hadn't been for the fact Natasha almost died last year they might still be arch enemies.

"We absolutely loathed each other," says Natasha. " It's strange thinking about it now because I love her to bits but at the time she was my worst enemy."

Shouting and fighting was a regular part of the routine and Natasha remembers once screaming vehemently at her sister: "I will never be your bridesmaid and I will never go to your wedding."

But when Natasha, a student teacher, contracted meningitis in September 2002 everything changed.

Natasha recalls: "I was out with my friends one afternoon and suddenly I felt really unwell. My legs gave way beneath me and I had a terrible headache.

"I wasn't with Natalie because we never hung out together but my friends called an ambulance.

"By the time I got to hospital I couldn't do anything. The doctors told me that septicaemia had taken over my legs so they did some tests. I was told that these would be excruciatingly painful but they didn't hurt at all - that's when I realised how serious it was."

Natasha underwent numerous X-rays and CAT scans, yet still there was no diagnosis. It was only when a consultant examined her mouth, and found the rash had spread there, that they discovered that she had the deadly viral meningitis, meningococcal group B. It accounts for 60 per cent of British cases and kills 200 Britons a year.

Luckily the doctors were able to save Natasha and she quickly responded to treatment.

And when she woke up the morning after collapsing she was desperate to see her sister.

"It was strange because we had barely been speaking before I became ill but coming so close to death made me realise what was important. I got a text out of the blue later that day from Natalie which said, 'I am just in your room having a good rummage.' I thought 'what a bitch' but I had a good laugh too," she says with a smile.

"We hadn't even had each other's phone numbers before I became ill, so I realised she must've asked my mum for it and that meant she cared."

It wasn't long before Natalie, who works at Scottish Gas, was nursing her sister back to life.

"She came in to visit me all of the time and brought me treats to cheer me up. She even helped me drink with a straw. I found it really strange that she was helping me as she was never like that before. I think then I realised she was worried, in fact, I think she was petrified. For the first time I saw she loved me."

Natalie did care. "I was devastated," she admits. "It was a life-changing experience, and I knew Natasha could have died.

"And as I realised how much I cared about her I started to empathise with how she was feeling more. I wanted to look after her."

Now the sisters can barely remember what it was the caused so many problems between them.

"Looking back, I don't really know why we hated each other, but I think it was because we were spoilt," says Natasha. "We got everything we could ever imagine, but we wanted more.

"Going into each other's rooms were strictly out of bounds - but we would always do it, stealing each other's clothes and wearing them. You had to get them back without each other noticing or hell would break loose - which it often did."

Their parents were devastated at the total absence of sisterly love, and desperately tried to bring the two together, to no avail. They refused to speak to one another, didn't have each other's mobile numbers and couldn't understand the sibling bond others had.

Natasha says: "If I did piano lessons, she did keyboard. If I had dance lessons, she would get Latin lessons. It was always even. We did everything the same, and got everything the same. But it was just really unpleasant.

"Even on our birthday, we wouldn't share it. We couldn't share it. We would have a day for her, and then a day for me. We wouldn't do it together - it couldn't be a joint one.

"So when our relationship changed, it was odd - at first."

Natasha made a swift recovery and the following summer the girls went on holiday to Magaluf and slowly built their relationship. Natalie explains: "We stopped arguing about all those little things and she went from just being my sister to being one of my friends."

And in 2005, they treated their mum to a birthday break in Stobo Castle. "I think that was the turning point for us," admits Natasha. "I really saw my sister in a different light. She was a person, she was my friend. We just gelled together and I think that was the best present of all for my mum."

And even now, Natasha, is amazed at the turnaround.

"Nowadays we talk to each other and we know what each other is thinking. Before, we didn't even talk. She is my friend. I've never said that before, but she's my friend. We go to the gym together, we go to spinning classes together. We have birthday parties together now, and we go out together. Looking back, I see how bad it was."

And her biggest regret?

"My mum. It upsets me because it upset my mum so much. It was her two wee girls and she thought they were splitting up. She's delighted now. And she's just so chuffed that her little girls are back together now and will walk down that aisle together."

'I asked if he would die and they said prepare for worst'

TWO-YEAR-OLD Dominic Thomson contracted pneumococcal meningitis at just 13 weeks old. Here, his mother Paula, 36, a primary school teacher, of Fairmilehead, recalls the night her son became unwell.

"When I put Dominic to bed on Boxing Day 2005, I couldn't help but worry about him.

He wouldn't settle and there seemed to be a slight swelling on his stomach so the following morning I went straight to the Sick Kids Hospital.

The doctor there told me she was concerned by Dominic's temperature and Dominic was kept in overnight for observation and the consultant told me to bring him back immediately if his high temperature returned.

In the following night, Dominic woke me up with a very strange cry. I couldn't put my hands on him he was so hot.

At 7am at the hospital, two doctors came to see me and my husband Paul and I knew by their faces something was seriously wrong.

It was pneumococcal meningitis - a deadly strain of the virus.

I asked if Dominic was going to die and they told me to prepare for the worst.

It was absolutely devastating - words cannot describe how we felt. The next 48 hours were crucial and they gave Dominic lots of steroids.

As the steroids were being pumped in, he was having a seizure. Minutes later, they started to resuscitate. He had basically died. I couldn't see what was going on but all of a sudden I could hear my husband panicking and shouting and I just knew he was dying in front of us.

After the most horrendous 20 minutes, the doctors managed to stabilise him.

We were so lucky as we caught it so early and he had not suffered brain damage.

NO OTHER DISEASE KILLS FASTER

ACCORDING to the Meningitis Research Foundation, meningitis affects around 3000 people every year in the UK, with more cases reported in the winter.

No other disease kills faster, and a healthy person can die within hours. The disease can afflict any age group or gender - and of those who contract meningitis, around one in ten die, with many more left with disabilities.

Meningitis is mostly a bacterial or viral disease, although some rare cases are caused by fungus.

While the viral strain is unpleasant, it is rarely life-threatening. But the bacterial strain is more serious and causes the inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord. It all too often ends in death or disability. Knowing what to look out for can save lives. Initial symptoms include fever, vomiting, headache and feeling unwell, just like in many mild illnesses.

These "red flag" symptoms often appear earlier than more recognisable meningitis symptoms like neck stiffness and aversion to light - and before more serious symptoms. However, recognising the signs can be hard and experts stress the need to trust your instincts.

• The Meningitis Research Foundation's Meningitis Awareness Week is September 17-23

• For more information visit www.meningitis.org or telephone the free 24-hour helpline on 080 8800 3344