BBC snooker presenter Seema Jaswal has opened up about her terrifying well being battle, which left her in a 48-hour coma.
Seema Jaswal presenting the World Snooker Championship for the BBC. (Picture: BBC)
Lengthy earlier than Seema Jaswal turned a well-recognized face of the BBC’s snooker protection, her life took a deeply scary flip. Jaswal has been a cornerstone of the broadcaster’s presenting lineup since 2019 and has as soon as once more taken centre stage on the Crucible this yr.
But at simply 16 years previous, she was thrust right into a 48-hour coma after what medical doctors initially dismissed as flu turned out to be a doubtlessly deadly case of Meningitis B. She recalled the harrowing expertise in vivid element. “I used to be 16, working in a restaurant on the time,” she advised Wales On-line. “I used to be learning for my A-levels and taking part in each sport below the solar. I used to be additionally socialising, as a result of that is an enormous a part of life, being 16, in addition to working and I keep in mind one specific day, I felt very unwell. I had a really heavy head.
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“Got here residence, spoke to my mum, and simply stated, ‘I do not really feel proper.’ I did not actually get in poor health fairly often. So it did really feel a bit completely different, however I did go it off as a possible flu. Because the night time progressed, my mum referred to as an evening physician to only examine that I used to be okay. The night time physician stated, ‘Look, I believe she’s simply acquired a very severe bout of flu.’ They gave me some paracetamol. He left, and inside about an hour, I used to be sick.
“Then my mum turned on the sunshine to examine on me, and I stated, ‘Mum, you need to flip that gentle off. I am unable to take a look at that gentle.’ That was when the alarm bells began ringing. My mum had a type of old-fashioned, hardback books, the A to Z of Sicknesses. Clearly now, we have Google. However she had a e-book that had one thing about meningitis in it.
“So she referred to as the paramedics. Now, when the ambulance arrived, from that time on, I do not keep in mind something that occurred, as a result of I fell right into a coma. Upon arrival on the hospital, they stunning a lot examined it fairly quickly, they usually did a lumbar puncture, however I used to be in a coma for between 24 and 48 hours.
“Once I got here by it, my mother and father throughout that point had been advised of what might occur, what the result may very well be, as a result of you may find yourself dropping a limb. I imply, clearly the worst case is dropping your life, but when not, you may find yourself with life-changing disabilities, dropping a limb, dropping your sight, dropping your listening to.
“So many individuals sadly come by it with some life-changing illness or one thing that impacts them for the remainder of their lives. So I felt that I used to be very, very fortunate. Individuals needs to be very a lot conscious of the indicators and signs. It is the headache, it is the lack to take a look at gentle, it is the worst case when it will get to the very finish, it is the rash.
“But it surely’s additionally simply that feeling of lethargy. And once you’re 16 and also you’re doing a lot as I used to be, it may be confused very simply for one thing else, like a flu, like a chilly, like one thing else, like a virus. However I say to individuals to get it checked.”
Presenter, Seema Jaswal reacts as she presents previous to the night session on Day 9 of the Betfred World Snooker Championship at Crucible Theatre (Picture: Getty)
Jaswal now champions meningitis consciousness, having emerged from her battle with the sickness comparatively unhurt. She has graced the BBC studio alongside a few of snooker’s most celebrated figures all through this yr’s championships.
“I all the time say I’ve the very best seat in the home as a result of I am watching the snooker, speaking about what I am seeing and studying new issues on a regular basis with legends of the sport,” she stated. “So Stephen Hendry for instance, not solely a seven-time world champion and the best of his period, however he is so humorous. He is acquired this actually dry sense of humour.
“He is iconic, loves a birthday, we now have amusing as a result of through the Masters it is his birthday and he completely hates it. He hates that fuss being remodeled him so he’d actually moderately not make it a factor! You have acquired Steve Davis, I imply there is a man who’s genuinely reinvented himself. Not simply speaking about punditry, he is a person who’s performed at Glastonbury as a DJ, so I like his character.
“Ken Doherty, he is acquired probably the most iconic socks. Ken wears a different-coloured pair of socks each single time, and it is nice. I believe Ken is a type of those that simply brings all people collectively.
“Then there’s Dennis, and I all the time say he has a particular place in my coronary heart as a result of I am a 1985 child and clearly 1985 is a really particular yr for him. However that ultimate, these glasses, the black ball, it is simply principally the explanation why that technology fell in love with the game.
“I believe attending to work with him, he is not within the studio with me however he is in commentary, however he is nonetheless simply the very best. Then there’s John Parrott, who I believe what I like most about him is he is simply the last word household man. I am very privileged. They’re nice to work with.”
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