- Helen Edwards, 74, suffered life-changing brain damage after medics repeatedly misdiagnosed her viral encephalitis as a urinary tract infection (UTI).
- Despite multiple GP visits and two A&E trips for flu-like symptoms, confusion, and disorientation, her serious brain inflammation was only diagnosed a week after her initial symptoms appeared.
- Her daughter, Jane Richards, is campaigning for increased awareness among medical professionals, stressing that early diagnosis and antiviral treatment within 48 hours are crucial for encephalitis.
- Encephalitis, an uncommon but serious brain inflammation, is often mistaken for less severe conditions, particularly UTIs in older patients, due to dangerously low public and medical awareness.
- Experts warn that delays in accurate diagnosis of encephalitis, which affects approximately 6,000 people annually in the UK, can lead to severe disability or death.
IN FULL
Grandmother left with life-changing brain damage after doctors mistook rare condition for a UTI
