A MOTHER is lucky to be alive after spending a week on a life support machine when she contracted a serious form of meningitis.

Mum-of-two Amanda Cross, 37, was in Bronglais Hospital for two weeks, including seven days in intensive care, being treated for meningococcal meningitis.

After she was finally discharged to recover at home, her mother Ann Smee, of Bronant, heaped praise on hospital staff and stressed how important it was to fight to retain services at Bronglais.

“We are a very lucky family,” Mrs Smee told the Cambrian News.

“If it hadn’t been for the staff at Bronglais, we dread to think what might have happened to Amanda. We are so relieved she has made a full recovery.

“It was the most horrendous ordeal in our lives. She was put in a drug-induced coma, and we didn’t know how much of Amanda we would get back. Bacterial meningitis can cause permanent brain damage. We are just so lucky.”

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