Real Life Stories

ukJemma Berwick

Jemma Berwick suffered from the deadliest form of malaria when volunteering in a children’s hospital in Ghana. Her experience inspired her to raise funds to help make malaria no more.

14,000 feet of pure satisfaction

For me, doing a skydive for Malaria No More UK was the best way to raise funds for such a worthy cause. Raising the money was simple; I did it though JustGiving, online and by asking people.

Before I knew it, I was going up in the aeroplane and then it dawned on me what I was about to do! But with my friends Elise and Katie beside me I made it to the ledge (which was the scariest part), and next I was free falling – the best feeling in the world! After a bumpy landing, I was hit by an overwhelming feeling of emotion. Take a look at the video of my jump!

Knowing that we had raised so much money that would help save many lives in Africa. The whole experience was very rewarding, knowing that we had raised so much money that would help save many lives in Africa, and not to mention great fun. I received so much support from the teams both at Malaria No More UK and Skyline, who helped me to organise the jump. I look forward to planning more events to raise money for Malaria No More UK.

Inspired? Sign up to do your own challenge to help make malaria no more

Read what motivated Jemma to do a skydive:

I’ve always wanted to be a nurse and recently qualified from the University of Salford as a Paediatric Nurse. I learnt loads during my training, the most unforgettable part was my six week work placement in Ghana last year in a public hospital there.

It was my first time outside of Europe, I knew it was going to be different but nothing prepares you for just how different life is. The hospitals were basic with hardly any equipment. I was working on a general children’s ward in the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital. I started out mainly observing the nurses and then moved on to doing basic observation of the children, helping to care for them and assisting the staff when performing cannulations and bloods.

The children’s ward had 30 beds, two thirds taken up with children who had malaria. The majority of patients were pretty weak as they were malnourished as well as suffering from malaria. I found it incredibly tough to see children so ill, especially from a disease that is preventable. I knew the statistics and that a child dies from malaria every minute, but knowing the numbers does not mean you are ready for the day to day reality of the impact of malaria. Most mornings I’d start my shift by checking the overnight deceased records and I’d see that children had died during the night, usually two or more…

I’ll always remember three year old Richard. I assisted with his care by doing his basic and neurological observations. His condition was incredibly serious, he presented with a temperature of 38.5, his respirations were 74, he was stiff with glazed eyes and was barely responding. After 17 failed attempts of cannulation, the doctor shaved his hair off and managed to get a cannula in his scalp. Richard was put in a cot and given an intramuscular injection of quinine. He didn’t have any oxygen though and desperately needed it. I remember thinking that if Richard lived in the UK, his parents would have had the means to make sure he got the treatment he needed and in hospital he would have been in intensive care. The effort he required simply to breathe was heart-breaking to watch. When I arrived on my next shift the next morning, I went to check on Richard but his cot already had another child in it. He had passed away that night of cerebral malaria.

I want to do all I can to help make malaria no more.

The following week I didn’t feel myself. I lost my appetite and became incredibly tired. I sort of lost interest in life. On 5 October, I got up late and couldn’t face breakfast but went into work the late shift. I felt a stabbing pain in my left arm and my chest, but didn’t think anything of it as I’d been in the sun the week before so put it down to that. I just felt really tired and after the shift went home and just crashed out on our sofa. My housemate Anna, a trainee doctor, saw me and sounded the alarm bell immediately as I couldn’t breathe properly and my lips and fingers had turned blue. I started to drift in and out of consciousness. I remember thinking that it felt like someone was sitting on my chest and I became really scared. Anna made an emergency call and our programme manager, Joseph, sped us off to the West African Rescue Centre, a private clinic. I was given an ECG, a cannula, blood tests, an injection of pain relief in one thigh and a the rescue injection of quinine in the other. Then we got the test results – I had Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest form of malaria. I needed four bags of fluid throughout the night as I was so dehydrated. In the morning I had another injection of quinine before being discharged with a strong antimalaria agent called Coartem.

I was so weak I slept for a week. I couldn’t do anything for myself and I lost a stone and half in weight. My Dad wanted to get on the next flight out and take me home and my university also suggested that I leave but I was only half way through my placement in Ghana and despite everything, I really wanted to see it through. I stayed for the rest of the placement and despite still not feeling 100% I went back to placement a week and half later. I continued sleep under my mosquito net – the nets were a pain to tuck in under our bunk beds but we all saw them as a security blanket as we knew they massively reduce the risk of catching malaria.

I’ve been back in the UK for over a year now and taken a real interest in malaria and got behind Malaria No More UK, a fantastic charity that raises funds and awareness to save lives in Africa, including in Ghana.

I’m so conscious now of how fortunate we are to live in a country where we can access, and as nurses administer, timely treatment. I want to do all I can to help make malaria no more.

Make a donation & help make malaria no more