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Elise Pickering

Elise Pickering

Aged 16

Strep B meningitis

"I write this with great sadness. On April 8th 2011, I lost my beautiful daughter Elise. She was 16-years-old.

Elise contracted Strep B meningitis when she was a baby. She was very luck to have survived it, but she was a fighter.

As a result of this awful illness, Elise was left with profound disabilities - epilepsy and scoliosis to name a few.

As she grew up, it became a struggle for me to care for her as she needed a lot of support which took more than one person.

When she was 12-years-old she went to live in a care home called Limetree Court in Hull.

Initially, I didn't want Elise to go as most of the children had behavioural problems and I felt Elise was too vulnerable as she was in a wheelchair and could not speak. But Elise did go to the home where she has left a great legacy.

While she was there, the home turned around and it now caters for children with more profound disabilities. This was all designed around Elise as she was the only permanent resident.

Now there is a waiting list for other children to have respite at the home to give parents the much needed rest they deserve. The staff at Limetree Court do a fantastic job and they gave Elise the best care I could have wished for.

The consultant said he had never seen a child so badly affected by meningitis as Elise.

She was strong till the end. Losing a child is the worst feeling ever.

The work Meningitis UK does is amazing. This horrible illness needs to be kept in the public eye as so many people suffer from it and all we hear about are the ones that sadly die.

Keep up the good work."

By Maria Richardson – Elise's mum.