A MENINGITIS survivior has shared the harrowing experience which left her in intensive care.

Sue Street, 64, from Brentwood, contracted meningococcal septicaemia on Christmas Eve 2002, which led to her waking up in hospital on New Year’s Day.

Sue, who was 52 when she showed the first signs of meningitis, said it’s vital people know the signs of the disease so they can seek immediate help.

She said she went to bed on Christmas Day with excrutiating pains in her head and body which stopped her having dinner with her son.

Sue added: “I had to leave the table and lie down – quite honestly the next thing I really remember is around 2am waking with my head feeling like a balloon ready to burst – then I next remember on January 1 waking up in intensive care.”

Charity Meningitis Research Foundation estimates that meningitis and septicaemia affect about nine people in the UK and Ireland every day, killing one in ten who contract it.