A WOMAN who nearly lost her brother to a deadly infection has taken on a gruelling challenge to raise awareness of the killer condition.

Self-confessed fitness-phobe Lisa Massicks completed the Total Warrior challenge at Shap earlier this month, raising nearly £2,000 for meningitis awareness, after her brother Dean Washington was struck down by the bacterial infection last year.

Mrs Massicks, 39, of Dalton, told The Mail her brother, who is 32 and also lives in Dalton, was taken ill a year ago, after going to bed suffering from a headache.

She explained headaches were not unusual for Mr Washington, as he had suffered from them since being hit by a car at the age of 16.

However, the family soon discovered Mr Washington was seriously ill - and was on his way to Furness General Hospital after his wife Victoria had found him having a seizure on the bedroom floor.

Mrs Massicks said: "I felt like I was in a haze as I drove to A&E.

"As they brought him out of the ambulance they told us he was not responding.

"I will never forget that feeling. The spinning of my vision and my parents' cries."

Doctors suspected that Mr Washington had a blood clot on his brain or some serious infection. His family were told they suspected it could be meningitis; and Mrs Massicks described their distress when they were allowed to go in and see him.

Mrs Massicks said: "The image of what met us will stay with me forever. He was intubated and on a ventilator.

"The cubicle looked like a bomb site where doctors and nurses had fought to save his life and discarded packets and apparatus."

The whole family was overwhelmed by the staff who cared for him, Mrs Massicks added.

Mr Washington was transferred to an intensive care, where he spent several days in a medically induced coma, his family taking it in turns to sit by his bedside.

Mrs Massicks said: "Seeing the machines breathing for him and all the tubes bleeping was awful. It was so hard to talk to him. Could he hear?"

After a few days, doctors tried to bring him round and reduced his sedative but he was confused and agitated.

However, his brain was too swollen and they had to intubate him again. After another four days, the medical team managed to wake Mr Washington. He was diagnosed with meningococcal septicaemia meningitis (type B) which is the most common form of bacterial meningitis in the UK.

Eventually, Mr Washington was moved to a ward and given IV fluids for two weeks.

Four days after being discharged, he was readmitted with another bout of bacterial meningitis, the cause being an unknown leak from his skull.

A year later, Mr Washington is still recovering and receiving treatment and operations.

Mrs Massicks said the trauma of her brother's illness has had a lasting effect on the whole family. As a way of raising awareness for meningitis, Mrs Massicks, along with 24 friends and family, took part in the Total Warrior challenge, raising £1,880 - nearly four times the £500 target they had set.

Mrs Massicks said: "I think people donated more money because they know I don't really do fitness.

"It was really hard but we just wanted to raise money and awareness for meningitis."