A teenager “almost died” from meningitis after she shared drinks with her friends on a night out in Popworld. Lily Williamson, 19, contracted meningococcal meningitis group B (MenB), causing sepsis and was left unable to move following a night of clubbing with her friends in Reading.
She started getting aches and pains and was taken to the doctor by her mum when she started vomiting 24 March 2026. Lily went into septic shock in the back of the ambulance and was rushed to Basingstoke Hospital, where she spent eight days in the intensive care unit.
Doctors don’t know where Lily picked up meningitis from but she feels it is “pretty likely” she got it from sharing drinks. Lily, a preschool key practitioner, from Basingstoke, said: “I went out on Friday night to Popworld in Reading and was sharing drinks with people and didn’t think anything of it.
View 5 ImagesLily Williamson, 19
“When you share drinks when you’re out with mates you don’t think anything of it, it is a completely normal thing to do, but that is most likely where I caught it. Over the weekend I was fine but by Monday I started getting aches and pains, my temperature was 37.1C but within an hour I could hardly walk and my temperature shot up to 39.8C.
“I barely slept overnight and was throwing up so my mum took me to the doctors and they called an ambulance there because I was basically unresponsive. In the ambulance I went into septic shock but I honestly don’t remember it, I was so out of it.
“I just remember waking up in hospital and my mum was crying over me saying the doctors will help.”
When she arrived at hospital, her mum was told she might not wake up. Lily said: “My mum was so worried and she is already very much a worrier. She really suffered when I was in ICU, she said to me that the day I went into the hospital they told her they weren’t sure if I was going to make it.”
View 5 ImagesLily Williamson, in hospital
Once in hospital, Lily described having a tube stitched into her neck with five or six attachments and drips with antibiotics and other fluids. She stayed in hospital until Easter Sunday and was only allowed visitors wearing masks and protective clothing, but praised the medical team that looked after her.
She said: “The care at Basingstoke Hospital was amazing and everyone there was so lovely. If the doctors weren’t as quick as they were then I wouldn’t have been as lucky as I was.”
Lily said doctors were surprised she didn’t have any neck stiffness or a rash before she was hospitalised. She said: “My major symptom was pain all over my body, it hurts to stand up. I was aching all over and felt so weak every time I stood up.
“I didn’t have the energy to talk. I couldn’t sleep, I was so hot and just couldn’t get my temperature down. I looked so pale and unwell but I almost died so that makes sense. I honestly want to make people more aware of the symptoms.
View 5 ImagesLily went out on Friday night to Popworld in Reading
“You genuinely don’t think it’s going to be anything serious, they are the normal symptoms that you would get with any illness, flu or cold. I didn’t have any neck stiffness or rash and mine was really really serious.”
MenB is very contagious, known for potentially causing blood poisoning (sepsis) and can lead to life-changing disabilities such as amputations, hearing loss, brain damage and scars. Lily loved clubbing before the incident but is now petrified of catching anything.
She said: “I haven’t been out since March because I am so terrified of catching something. I used to love going out with my friends but now I tend to just avoid it which is sad. E ven though it has been months since she was hospitalised, Lily said some symptoms still linger around.
View 5 ImagesLily Williamson, in hospital
She said: “I still get really bad headaches and I never used to get exhausted, but now if I do long strenuous stuff I get exhausted quite quickly. I am a busy person and I always like to be doing stuff, but when I had meningitis I wasn’t allowed to work or go out and it drove me insane.”