The little Harmonie-Rose Allen from the British city of Bath is the pride of her parents Freya and Ross. At 11 months old, the completely healthy and lively girl took her first step. However, 10 days later the family woke to their worst nightmare. The small kid coughed, had trouble breathing and started turning blue. At the hospital a nurse discovered a violet spot on Harmonie's nose. From then on, it went very quickly.
The girl was instantly taken by ambulance to the nearest specialist clinic in Bristol. As she arrived, she was already covered with violet spots. The small child was suffering from Meningitis, an inflammation of the cerebral membrane. From the break-out of bacteria, the life-threatening infection Meningococcal-meningitis can cause gangrene: the tissues aren't provided with enough blood and decay the living body.
"Harmonie was taken to the intensive care unit and we hadn't heard from her in 4 hours", remembered her mother, Freya Hall (20). "When we were allowed to see her, I nearly fainted from the sight of her." The arms and legs of the little girl were already deep purple in colour. Doctors had given her just a 10 percent chance of survival. To save Harmonie, they had to not only remove the end of her nose, but also amputate the afflicted arms and legs.
But the little battler didm't give up and defeated the deadly disease! Harmonie learnt to crawl - without arms and legs. She would soon receive her first customised prosthetic. Her crazy love of life and overflowing energy were never dampened, and she just celebrated her 2nd birthday.
"Here, we let Harmonie open her present with a blunt knife", wrote her mother on Facebook "Under supervision, of course! But it didm't work that well."
On her sight Hope For Harmonie the girl's family are collection donations for further treatments and to get her strong enough for vaccinations. "I thought that because Harmonie was vaccinated against meningitis, that she would never get it", explained her mother. "but I didn't know about Meningococcal B, which she has." Although the vaccination for this group has been approved in Europe since 2013, in her home town in England, it was not yet being administered, and even in Germany according to STIKO (the standard vaccination committee) there are still concerns of safety, tolerance and side effects.
Harmonie's parents hope that this will soon change, to prevent other children from the same fate as their daughter. "This time last year we didn't know if you'd make it, what would happen, how you would develop", said Freya on her Facebook site. "To watch you suffering was the worst thing I've ever had to go through, but that seems like 100 years ago already. And now look at you! I don't have the words to say how much I love you Harmonie, you are something quite special!"
Harmonie-Rose Allen shared death in the eye and fought her way back to life. The 2 year old has lost her ams, legs and nose to the disease, but that has not held this bundle of energy back. If her story has also moved you, then SHARE it with your friends.
