Londonderry woman was saved from swine flu by being put in coma

Marie Begley from the Linsfort Drive area of the city has expressed her shock and disbelief at Amanda's condition caused by the potentially fatal H1N1 virus.

Amanda (28) was diagnosed with swine flu four weeks before Christmas and was rushed to Altnagelvin hospital after experiencing flu like symptoms and breathing difficulties.

Amanda's mother Marie told the Sentinel: "I totally dismissed what the doctor said to me that Amanda was going to be tested for swine flu.

"I never thought that my Amanda would have swine flu, it was the last thing I would have thought it could have been."

Marie told the Sentinel that Amanda had contacted her mother after experiencing flu symptoms that included severe shivering.

"Amanda sent me a text to let me know that she was really sick and that she had a doctor's appointment for later that day: at the time I just thought that it was the flu but the doctor wanted Amanda to go to hospital straight away but she wanted to go home, so the doctor said if she was still bad in seven hours that she had to go to hospital," Marie said.

"When she took really bad, she was in hospital for about four days with pneumonia, it didn't look like she was getting better but it didn't look like she was getting any worse.

"When we went to visit her she had a temperature that they couldn't control, they had two fans on her. Amanda started coughing and they couldn't get her oxygen levels high enough. I went out to see the nurse when this alarm went off that her oxygen levels started dropping, so they used these different masks but nothing was working and she was getting worse and worse, so they decided to take her down to intensive care, by this time she was gasping for air."

After being moved to intensive care the staff at Altnagelvin began asking Amanda's family questions if Amanda had any underlying medical conditions.

"They kept asking us questions like 'has Amanda had been out of the country?' 'How long has Amanda been an asthmatic?' I said she's not asthmatic, she's general a healthy person.

"By this time Amanda was under this hood in intensive care when the doctor asked us to step out for a minute, three hours later they came back and said that they had put Amanda in an induced coma.

"He said that the infection had overtaken her lungs and that she was dependant on the ventilator."

After being placed on the ventilator, Amanda was then checked by hospital staff to find a reason for her sudden deterioration.

"The nurse said that they were going to swab Amanda, after what seemed like a lifetime they called us up to say that Amanda was being tested for a whole lot of different things and swine flu was one of them. I totally dismissed that because I thought my Amanda won't have that because you don't think that's going to happen to us.

"All day we were waiting for the results, the nurse said that the results will be back at eight o'clock and she kept torturing everybody in Belfast for the results.

"She phoned the guy in the lab in Belfast; when he phoned back he said the test was positive, I nearly died. It was the last thing on my mind that Amanda would possibly have.

"At this stage Amanda was critically ill." Marie said.

By this time Amanda had been in a coma for 13 days and showing no signs of improvement.

"They were trying everything and asking question after question, about family history and had Amanda been at the doctors, they were just trying to find out really in case it wasn't swine flu, what it could be.

"We were told to go home when Public Health phoned and they said unless we were unwell ourselves there's no need for anybody to get Tamiflu or anything like that. By now we were told that Amanda was dangerously ill and there was nothing more they could do for her, so basically it was up to Amanda to fight for herself," Marie said.

Amanda finally began showing signs of improvement.

"Being in a coma she began to show slight signs of improvement while being still very dangerously ill. The infection started to go down but basically they were working with her oxygen levels." Marie said.

Amanda's condition was beginning to improve and became more stable despite issues concerning the infection that was effecting her lungs that included having X-rays taken of her lungs.

"As quick as she took sick she came back, you only have the swine flu for ten days but because she had pneumonia it took her so long to come round.

"She's grand now, she's still recovering but she's here," Marie said

When asked about the level of care at Altanagelvin Marie was full of praise for the staff at the Londonderry hospital.

"When she went into the high dependency unit I can't praise them enough. The care and attention that Amanda got was 210 percent, they were round the clock and more than attentive."

Both Amanda and mother Marie did say however that staff at Altnagelvin had been under prepared and understaffed but thought this was due to fewer general safeguards being put in place this year across Northern Ireland, compared to the previous year's outbreak.

"I don't think it was the hospital's fault.

"When she was sick there was only six people in Northern Ireland in intensive care units with swine flu. They said she was the first confirmed case in Altnagelvin," Marie said.

Marie Begley has appealed to the public to get examined if you have any symptoms of flu.

"If people are offered the swine flu or any flu jab they should take it because I couldn't believe what it did to her."

The latest outbreak of swine flu has seen a significant number of the public being treated for flu like symptoms with many waiting for the flu vaccine for significant periods of time.

Dr Brian Smyth, Consultant in Health Protection, at the Public Health Agency (PHA) said the agency had seen a "continued significant rise" in the number of seasonal flu cases.

"This is to be expected at this time of year, given the recent particularly cold weather and the circulation of several respiratory viruses.

"Despite the recent rises, our current flu activity is less than the peaks noted in the past two years.

"As we expect the flu viruses to continue to circulate for the next few weeks, it is vital that at-risk individuals get vaccinated." Dr Smyth said.

However the Public Health Agency has said that the number of swine flu reported cases has decreased.

Dr Carolyn Harper, Director of Public Health for Northern Ireland, said: "It is reassuring that the number of new flu cases per week has more than halved.

"If the current trend continues, the peak of this year's flu season has passed.

"21 people had died from H1N1 flu during the current flu season. Of these, 18 had underlying medical conditions that predispose them to developing serious complications of flu, two did not and details for the remaining death have not been confirmed."

The PHA said those eligible for the H1N1 vaccine should see their doctor as soon as possible.