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Beverley and Norman Pace, Meningitis Research Foundation, UK
Beverley Pace is chair of Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF). Her husband, comedian and actor Norman Pace, is a patron of the charity. Holly Pace was four weeks old on 29th January 1988, when the couple went shopping in their local supermarket.
Beverley remembers: 'Holly started to cry as soon as we walked into the shop and her cries became shriller the longer we were there. We realise now that the fluorescent lights must have been causing her agony. After a few minutes, I decided to wait in the car for Norman and try to feed Holly. She fed OK, but then threw up everything almost immediately. After that she refused to feed at all and started to run a temperature.
'We went home and called out our doctor, who arrived within 10 minutes. She said she wasn't sure exactly what was wrong, but that there was obviously something serious and we should go to casualty. By the time we reached Queen Mary's in Sidcup, Holly's fontanel was bulging and she was floppy and unresponsive. The paediatric registrar did a lumbar puncture and by midnight we had the diagnosis confirmed - Streptococcal A meningitis.
'Holly was extremely poorly for a couple of days, surrounded by the paraphernalia of serious illness - drips, tubes, incubator and most of all, doctors and nurses. We were asked on several occasions if we wanted to have her baptised by the hospital chaplain. She had massive fits and stopped breathing, her skin turned blue and we feared the worst. However, she's a fighter and after day three she seemed to be starting to pick up. Unfortunately, this improvement didn't last and a week after she'd first gone into hospital, Holly was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children (GOSH).
'In an ambulance we sped up to central London and were taken into the neurosurgical ward. I think that day was one of my worst. Holly's eyes were fixed and staring and her whole body was floppy.
'After more tests, we found that the meningitis had caused an abscess on Holly's brain and she had developed hydrocephalus. Holly was to spend the best part of the next five months fighting for her health and, at times, her life. She was saved by the skills of the health professionals at GOSH.'
Norman's high profile career meant that as news of Holly's illness emerged, the couple were inundated with requests to help various charities in the UK. One of those approaches was from MRF and Beverley remembers that it was the one that stood out: 'The Foundation were the only charity who offered our family support, rather than just what we could do for them'.
Beverley and Norman subsequently became members of the charity. There are over 15,000 members and supporters, all working towards a common goal of creating a world free from meningitis and septicaemia. Fundraising in support of MRF's objectives of supporting quality research, raising awareness and supporting those already affected by the diseases is a key member contribution. Fundraising for the Foundation was the way that the Paces first found to channel their energies in fighting back against meningitis.
'We found fundraising very positive and helpful. It was something that we could involve our family, friends and wider community in which, particularly in funding research, would make a positive difference in helping to eradicate the disease that had damaged our child.'
Norman and Beverley's contribution culminated in the charity offering the positions of trustee to Beverley and patron to Norman in 1993.
MRF was beginning to play an increasingly major role in Norman and Beverley's life, especially when Beverley became chair of the charity in 2007, ushering in a new era of achievement.
One of the main highlights of Beverley's chairmanship is the publication of a vital MRF funded UK healthcare delivery study which showed that the lack of specialist paediatric care, failures in supervision, and failure to aggressively treat children in line with the Foundation's treatment protocol contributed to child deaths from meningococcal disease. This was to have far-reaching repercussions, and influenced the NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) feverish illness in children guideline in UK.
From a global perspective, pneumococcal disease kills around 1.6 million people worldwide each year, one million of whom are young children and infants. Our research project in Boston has resulted in the development of a low-cost vaccine suitable for the developing world where the disease is a major killer.
Norman has been a hard working representative of the Foundation in his role as patron. Always available to represent and promote the charity, one of Norman's latest appearances was at MRF's 2009 international conference presenting The Personal Cost of Meningitis.
Holly is now 22 years old, Beverley says: 'She has physical and some learning disabilities as a result of her meningitis, but she's gorgeous and we're immensely glad we still have her here with us.'
Beverley and Norman Pace
