Guest Blog- Sara

I'm Natalie's friend Sara - previously referred to in this blog as the woman who scared a car full of people with my terrible driving & lack of basic knowledge of car buttons and thingamajigs. 

I'm also the same person who threw up continuously when my husband trod on some open scissors and asked me to get the first aid box from the car. Poor man had to hop to the car and get it himself and pull the scissors out. I also traumatised numerous children once when my son cut his head open and I ran hysterically through the school, with blood spurting everywhere. A member of staff stemmed the small but gushing cut with one finger and all was calm again. Now why didn't I think of that! 

You get the picture, not the best person to rely on in an emergency! But if you are Natalie's friend, then it's highly likely you will have witnessed her fall very ill at one time or another and she will have needed help.

On several occasions, her calm and collected friends have not been available due to work or school commitments and she has called on me in an emergency and I have been absolutely terrified! She called me once when I had a full trolley of food in Tesco and in a tiny voice said "help me please". Natalie isn't prone to panicking so I knew she was in trouble. I told her not to panic as I shoved my trolley out of the way and ran to my car. 'All would be fine' I said and that 'I was on my way.' My hand was shaking so much I couldn't start the car. Then I realised maybe I should have called an ambulance. I called her back and asked her whether I should! Yes she said and the line went dead. Oh god, it must be serious. So I started to dial 999 and realised I couldn't remember her address - the address I sometimes pick her children up from when she is too poorly to go to school, the address I went to that morning.

"Calm down, calm down" I chanted out loud repeatedly. So I called another friend and asked for the address, but it took several attempts as my hands were still shaking. I got to the house and wondered how I could get in. I also wondered what state I would find her in. I saw her son was home and he let me in. 

I raced upstairs and there she was passed out on the bed with a raging temperature and in agony. It really was terrifying. Natalie awoke and her eyes were rolling and she was incoherent. I told her she would be absolutely fine and she had nothing to worry about and all the time I was thinking "this is really really bad this time...".

The paramedics arrived and asked to speak to me and said she was in a bad way and they were very concerned and could I contact her next of kin immediately. I called her husband and he raced home in record speed and I saw her visibly relax and calm down as he told her he was there, he loved her and wouldn't leave her and that nothing bad would happen to her. It was a very private moment that I shouldn't have witnessed and so I slipped out of the room.

This is one of a number of emergencies I have encountered. I have seen her pass out far too often. I don't know how she finds the courage and strength to carry on sometimes. Actually I do! Natalie does it for the love of her family and because she is stubborn and brave and giving up is not an option or in her vocabulary. 

The saddest part is that she and her family are so very used to her being so ill,  often in hospital more than out, line infection after line infection, fainting and collapsing. It's a cruel illness that shows no mercy despite the fact she has a young family and many plans and aspirations, just like the rest of us.

Natalie is so much more than her illness. Fiercely intelligent, funny, kind, friendly, stubborn, brave, generous, loving and have I mentioned STUBBORN? But you watch, that stubbornness and all her other qualities are going to keep her going on her journey and life is going to get better for her. How do I know? I just do. It will take time, but sometimes good things just have to happen to good people.

Sara x