Margaret Penman
Age 63
Meningitis and septicaemia
Margaret was looking forward to seeing her family for dinner on January 1 despite having a sore throat for three days.
But, throughout the day she started to feel really ill.
Her husband James, 67, said: "Margaret came back from the toilet shaking like a leaf and her hands were frozen. She said she felt terrible and went to bed.
"A couple of hours later she said she needed to see a doctor and for her to say that, I knew she was bad."
Her step-daughter Judith drove Margaret to the doctor and she was sent home with suspected swine flu and told to monitor her temperature.
When Margaret's temperature later crept to 39 degrees, James sent for an ambulance.
He said: "When the ambulance arrived, she could hardly walk. I don't think she knew where she was. She didn't speak. She didn't say anything.
"The ambulance took her straight to the local hospital. When the doctor couldn't find any blood pressure she then had to be rushed to Darlington Memorial Hospital. It was the worst journey of my life."
Margaret was put in a medically induced coma. She suffered a massive heart attack and her organs started to fail.
The doctors told James there was nothing more they could do for her.
On Tuesday January 5, 2011, Margaret's family said goodbye to her at her bedside before doctors switched off the life support machine and she slipped away.
James has paid tribute to his beloved wife of 27 years who worked as a personal secretary at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Newcastle.
He said: "Margaret was game for anything. She was all about the family and would dress up with her best friend and sing and do shows for the kids' parties which were so funny.
"We were married for 27 years and we were unbelievably happy. We travelled together and she took me to Italy for my 65th birthday where we did the seven cities.
"Margaret never did any harm to anyone - she was an absolute pearl and the whole family holds treasured memories of her.
"I want people to remember that meningitis can affect people of all ages – it's not just young people. Margaret was 63 when she died."
At Margaret's funeral, they played Jonathan Livingston's Seagull from her favourite Neil Diamond collection and Rhapsody on a Theme - The Gadfly by Paganini.
Margaret leaves behind two daughters and a son and two step-daughters.
James has put a bench in memory of Margaret in the beautiful grounds of the manor house next to Beamish Open Air Museum which they loved to visit as a family.
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