Two women

For several days she hovered between life and death and was so ill that a whole week has been erased from her memory.

"My brain was shut down and my body taken over by machines. I do not remember what was happening to me,'' she said.

But Theresa, aged 54, mother of four and grandmother to nine , says she was always aware of her family's love and support.

Back home in Hunderton this week she told them: " Without all of you I would never have fought back. If you had not loved me and pulled me back in to life I would have gone.

"By holding my hands I knew my daughters were there even though I could not see them. I love, and thank you all.''

Theresa has cared for others all her life. First her parents, now her mentally handicapped sister Katherine.

Her nightmare brush with death probably began with a Monday off from her care job at Manor Rest Home, Lower Bullingham.

She spent part of the day visiting DIY stores in Hereford, began to feel 'fluey' next day and got worse as the week progressed.

But she worked until Saturday and then took to her bed, warning her two sons and two daughters to keep away, not wanting them or her grandchildren to catch it.

It was the following Tuesday they realised she had made no progress, called a doctor and she was rushed to hospital with suspected gastroenteritis.

Theresa does not remember this or much of what happened during the next week, but her children do.

Matthew, Joseph, Michelle and Sarah were told the next day l Cont on Page 6

their mother had severe pneumonia, then that she had an infection they could not identify and 'things were not looking great'.

All intensive care beds were occupied, the nearest was a hospital at Warwick and, at 11.30 pm, Theresa was whisked by Ambulance on the two hour trip.

Her daughter Sarah was stunned by her mother's appearance next day, with tubes up her nose, down her throat, in her arms and other parts of her body. There was concern over her kidneys, of septicaemea and fluid on her lungs.

She was heavily sedated and remembers nothing.

That weekend the hospital was alerted to Legionnaires' disease in Hereford and the diagnosis was made. Treatment started, Theresa made some movement and her eyes flickered. On the Sunday she was airlifted by helicopter back to the County Hospital and its ITU.

Michelle and Sarah cried and prayed and continued to hold her hands.

After one week Theresa came round: "I thought I was in China. I thought I was in bed in a wedding gown floating down a river. I knew my children were there and then I heard voices.''

But she was unable to move, unable to talk and had no feeling in her limbs.

The recovery did begin and she had to cope with all the life-saving tubes, the voice box put in her throat, struggling to breathe without a ventilator and trying to eat. It was a landmark when she was able to breathe for a day without help.

Blood transfusions, drips and injections continued with Theresa determined to recover for the sake of her children. "Their faces were filled with anguish and there were always tears in their eyes,'' she said.

Gradually the tubes were taken out, she was able to take her first steps and swallow food.

And she wanted to go home.

When she was told last Thursday was a possible date she was up at 6 am, washed and dressed.

"I put on my lipstick, the nurse helped me with mascara and I sat myself in a chair like Queen Victoria. When the consultant came he said I could go home,'' said Theresa.

She rejected a wheelchair saying: "I came in on wheels but I am going out on my own two legs''. And she did, in her best high heels.

Back at home her steely will remains. She is learning to walk and talk again and to cope with pain and a highly emotional state.

"They say it will take me six months to get right but I will prove them wrong. Christmas is my target.'' she said

Theresa has told her story because she wants people to realise it is not just an illness to be dealt with but the effect on a whole family. "Mine has been wonderful and I feel so sorry for those who have no-one to support them.''

She is now afraid of the dark and has nightmares in which she sees the faces of her children in bubbles which pop, and they disappear.

Of her near-miss with death Theresa said: "If ever I face a situation again, with a foot in each life, I will not be afraid. There is nothing frightening - it is not black but like floating in warm water with mist all around you.''

Theresa pays £1 a week for the Air Ambulance. "I had a ride back in one from Warwick and I did not know. I have told them they owe me a free one,'' she said - sense of humour still intact.

Legionnaires': One dies - one survives

A HEARTFELT tribute has been paid to a former nurse whose battle with Legionnaires' disease in Hereford County Hospital has ended in her death.

Lynne Davies of Ryeland Street, Hereford, had been struggling for her life since being admitted a month ago.

She had been making some progress but began to weaken last week and died on Monday evening.

The 56-year-old former nurse is said to have been suffering other chronic illnesses and it is expected an inquest will be held into her death.

Lynne had been caring for her 93-year-old mother Lillian at her home in Ryeland Street for more than 20 years.

Mrs Davies, who is blind, has been now moved to a social services care home in Leominster and her nephew, John Rendle who lives in Coventry, had to break the news of Lynne's death.

Mr Rendle, who has been living in Hereford since Lynne was admitted to hospital, visiting her on a daily basis, said he would like to pay the following tribute to his cousin.

He gave this account to the Hereford Times before Lynne's death.

"The words hero or heroine conjure up images of brave deeds on battlefields, or daring rescues on land and sea, and often the supreme sacrifice.

"But heroism can manifest itself in less dramatic situations

which nonetheless demand exceptional courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty.

"This is the story of Lynne Davies, a quiet Hereford heroine who has been in the intensive therapy unit at the County Hospital, a victim of Legionnaires' disease.

"It begins in the late 1930s when a coal miner decided to leave the pit and train to be a Presbyterian minister.

"Emlyn Davies was in his late 20s when he answered the 'call'. With little education and even less money he set out on his long journey to be a minister. Early on he met Lillian Oxendale from Bromyard, manageress of the town's shoe shop.

"They fell in love. But theological students were not allowed to marry until they had completed their training.

"Seven long years passed before they were able to marry. They moved to the Welsh valleys where Emlyn became minister of the Presbyterian church at Penrhwceiber and later Gilfach.

"Sadly, they discovered they could not have children and adopted a little girl.

''Lynne was a battered and abused baby but they loved and tended her to a happy new childhood.

"Then Emlyn suddenly died. A minister's wife is important but a minister's widow is no-one and has nothing.

"Lillian and little Lynne wandered around the country looking for work that allowed Lillian to keep Lynne with her. Eventually they settled in Presteigne where Lillian managed a shoe shop which also provided them with a home.

"Lynne went to grammar school, trained as a nurse and became a SRN.

"Tragedy struck again. Helping to lift a patient Lynne injured her spine. There followed very long periods in hospital. At 25 Lynne was a cripple and would never be able to work again.

"Lynne's mother had retired to Ryelands Street, Hereford, disabled and losing her sight.

''Lynne would have liked to stay in Gloucester with her nursing friends, where she ran the hospital radio but her mother had taken care of her through difficult times and now she would for her.

"For over 20 years Lynne has devoted her life to her mother giving her 24 hour-a-day care.

"During this period Lynne's own condition deteriorated drastically as she developed angina and severe diabetes. She also lost the use of one hand and one leg.

"Even so she struggled to continue the care of her 93- year-old blind mother, until two weeks ago.

"A friend and neighbour found her very ill, refusing to abandon her mother. They eventually over-ruled her and sent for the emergency GP who despatched her to hospital and the intensive therapy unit where they eventually discovered she had contracted Legionnaires' disease.

"Lynne, the former 'battered' and unwanted baby, who was rescued and grew up wanting to help others, and crippled herself doing so and spent all the tortured years since nursing her adopted mother and endeavouring to pay her for the love she had shown her, is in her third week of intensive care and struggling for her life."

Following Lynne's death on Monday Mr Rendle said it was likely Lynne's would be buried on a hilltop at Gilfach in South Wales.