LOUGHTON: Father declares war on superbug

9:11am Sunday 23rd March 2008

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A BUSINESSMAN who faced a brush with death at the hands of the superbug MRSA has spent £300,000 on a personal crusade to wipe the infection out in the NHS.

Ashley Brooks was struck down with the blood-poisoning bacteria as he battled leukemia in hospital, and made a promise that if he survived he would dedicate himself to its elimination.

“Almost straight away I started feeling very unwell. After 45 minutes I took out the drip myself and went home.”

Ashley Brooks

At his lowest point, Mr Brooks, 41, from Loughton, found himself praying that he would live long enough to see the birth of his son, Monty.

He claims he caught the bug at Southend Hospital in February 2002 after a nurse touched his chemotherapy drip without washing her hands.

He said: "I could see the nurse touching several patients around their bandages before reaching me, but I said nothing.

"I felt so ill, was bald and bloated from the chemotherapy and not able to look people in the eye at that time. I didn't feel strong enough to say anything.

"Almost straight away I started feeling very unwell. After 45 minutes I took out the drip myself and went home."

Soon after Mr Brooks' return his condition dramatically worsened.

He said: "It was like something out of a Hollywood movie the way I was pouring with hot sweat one minute and freezing the next. I'd never felt so ill in my life."

His wife, Lisa, 39, rushed him back to hospital where doctors diagnosed blood poisoning, and cured him after a ten-day course of antibiotics.

On leaving hospital he was astonished when he read a British Medical Association report that regular hand-washing alone could cut infections by up to 30 per cent.

The printing and IT entrepreneur vowed to launch a private campaign to promote hand-washing in hospitals and slash superbug infection and set up a scheme involving a cartoon character called Max.

Mr Brooks's creation was immediately endorsed by Basildon University Hospital and has since been distributed to 173 NHS trusts across Britain.

He said: "We knocked on a lot of doors and created a DVD, stickers and poster featuring Max. We even got badges for nurses to wear. They say: Ask me if my hands are clean' so patients don't feel bad about having to ask.

"I made a promise about this and am just an ordinary bloke. But I'm determined to make as much of a difference as I can."

Responding to Mr Brooks's case, the director of nursing at Southend Hospital, Sarah Dawson, said: "We are sorry if Mr Brooks acquired an infection while he was being treated at this hospital. However, over the last few years we have introduced a very wide range of improvements in infection control and we will continue to make this one of our top priorities."