by Beth Easton

The family of Jess Flewker were told to prepare themselves for the worst after the little girl fell ill with swine flu, pneumonia and an inflammation of the brain.

Jess, a reception-year pupil at Warden House School in Deal collapsed in convulsions while in Sainsbury's supermarket with her grandmother Carol Flewker.

"I thought she was choking," said Mrs Flewker.

An ambulance was called and Jess was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital’s intensive care unit but she had two more seizures in the ambulance on the way.

From there she was taken to St Thomas’s in London where the family were told of the worst case scenario.

"But they said they had already started her on some treatment that had never been used on anyone of Jess’s age before called Zanamivir.

"My husband and I went to the chapel and we prayed for a miracle. We had to put all our faith in God and the doctors."

By the Friday evening Jess was showing signs of opening her eyes and they knew she was making a recovery.

"Now Jess is back to her old self, but she gets tired very quickly."

Some of the symptoms of swine flu include the sudden onset of fever, cough or shortness of breath.

Other symptoms can include headache, sore throat, tiredness, aching muscles, chills, sneezing, runny nose or loss of appetite.

If you think you or someone close to you could have swine flu, telephone the Swine Flu Information Line 0800 4513513 which is updated regularly.

Full story in this week's East Kent Mercury.