FIGHT BACK
Malaria survivor Charlie Webster heads to Uganda to help tackle disease that almost killed her
IT’S a hot, muggy day out in Africa, the drone of insects filling the air as the mercury rises past 30C.
Yet Charlie Webster is wearing woolly leggings, thick socks and has a long-sleeved shirt tied to her waist, ready to wear.
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Most people dislike getting bitten by mosquitoes, but for the former Sky Sports presenter, it’s a prospect that is absolutely petrifying.
Charlie explains: “I never used to be like this.
“Normally I’d be in a short dress and sandals, but things are different now.”
The last time Charlie was bitten by one of the disease-bearing blood-sucking flies, on a charity bike ride in Brazil in 2016, she nearly died.
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Her body was rapidly overtaken by a rare strain of malaria and doctors feared she had just 24 hours to live.
But to everyone’s surprise, Charlie survived — and doctors called her “the miracle”.
Athletic Charlie, originally from Sheffield, is now acutely aware of her own mortality and takes precautions wherever she goes.
When she was asked by charity Malaria No More to travel to Uganda as its ambassador, a country riddled with the disease, she was faced with a dilemma.
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She says: “I had a lot of questions. I don’t know whether I’d survive if I got malaria again.
“Physically, I don’t know whether my body can take it.
“Only 16 months ago my body was fighting for its life.
“I didn’t want to be selfish but, at the same time, there’s a bigger picture and if you’ve got the potential to change things and save lives, why on earth wouldn’t you?
“I’d have beat myself up forever if I hadn’t come.”
Last month The Sun joined Charlie, 35, as she boarded a plane for Uganda, a country that saw 12,000 deaths from malaria last year.
Charlie said at the time: “I feel apprehensive about what we’re going to see.
“I think it’s going to be emotionally tough.
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“I suffer from PTSD which takes over my brain from nowhere, like a movie playing over and over again, so coming out here was a big decision.”
On her trip, Charlie visited remote villages where volunteers administer healthcare in mud huts.
She recalls: “There were a lot of moments I could have sobbed.
“It was surreal to see people being diagnosed with the same disease I had, and difficult because I know how aggressive it is.
“There’s no way I’d be here if I didn’t have an intensive care unit, and the people here don’t have that.
“It disgusts me that they’re dying for no reason. Malaria is completely preventable. I’m no different from the people here.”
Charlie can no longer drink alcohol, eat salt or take anti-inflammatory drugs because of the kidney damage she suffered while she was ill.
She still has tiny scars on her neck from where tubes were inserted to keep her alive.
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She says: “I felt like my insides were imploding, as if I were being tortured by my own body.
“I remember not being able to speak at all. Even opening my mouth was the most incredible effort.
“Any touch hurt and any smell made me sick.”
As well as flashbacks, Charlie suffers constant nightmares, another lasting symptom of her ordeal.
She explains: “They’re about me being killed or my family being killed, and I can’t save them. Or me being trapped and I can’t save myself.
“They are every night and they are so vivid I feel like they’re real.”
So when Charlie was asked if she’d like to meet a malaria patient, she admits she was frightened.
She says: “She was lying in a foetal position, shivering, in so much pain and convulsing.
“Her eyes were in the back of her head. She was gagging and short of breath.
“It reminded me of how I was. I felt all her pain.
“I wanted to reassure her and hold her hand, but I didn’t know if that was appropriate.
“It makes me so upset that she doesn’t have the same facilities I had.”
Malaria No More says that a child dies every two minutes from the disease, while treatment costs as little as the price of a cup of tea.
Health workers are doing all they can to fight malaria on the ground, making home visits and delivering medicine by bike.
Meeting one volunteer, 29-year-old Pharaoh Kasyonga, inspired Charlie to do something she’d been finding impossible.
Having caught malaria while cycling to Rio, she came to associate her bike with malaria and developed a fear of getting back in the saddle.
MALARIA: THE FACTS
- Half of the world is still at risk from malaria
- A child dies from the disease every two minutes
- It costs less than a cup of tea to treat
- Western Europe eliminated malaria in the 1960s
- 90% of the Commonwealth population live in malaria-affected countries
- Deaths from the disease have been halved in recent years
- Around 1,500 people every year return to the UK with the disease
She says: “I used to look at my bike and start crying. I built it up so much in my head.”
But seeing that they are essential in the fight against malaria in Uganda, Charlie decided to get back on a bike and cycle alongside the health worker.
She says: “I felt alive and really invigorated.
“It was so special to do it in an environment where the people are desperately trying to fight what nearly killed me.
“It gave me a huge perspective. It made my fear very trivial.”
Charlie says her illness and subsequent trip to Uganda taught her a lot about life.
She explains: “I thought I was indestructible. I knew I’d get through stuff because I’m a really focused and determined person but this has taught me that one minute you can be absolutely fine and the next, fighting for your life.
“Now I’m creating a new me and I feel quite different in myself.”
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Charlie has even found the confidence to start dating again.
She says: “I felt uncomfortable about my body for a long time.
“I ballooned to 14st due to swelling after I became ill.
“I didn’t recognise myself. I’d try to put my trousers on without looking at my body.
“That’s why I couldn’t put myself out there in terms of a relationship, because I couldn’t touch my own body let alone let anyone else.
“But now I feel more like me, just a slightly different version. I’ve been on a couple of dates.”
It is not the first time Charlie has overcome trauma in her life.
Four years ago she told how she had been sexually assaulted by her running coach when she was 15.
Charlie Webster reveals she is still haunted by drama of her malaria battle
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She says: “As an adult you have to fight against those feelings of ‘What did I do?’ or ‘I’m not worthy because of this’.
“I look at who I am now and I’m really proud.”
Charlie believes bad experiences happen for a reason.
She says: “Maybe I went through those things to be able to try to stop them.
“It’s easy to run away from things but I didn’t fight for my life to live half of who I am.”
As a charity ambassador, Charlie is due to speak at a malaria summit in London next week.
James Whiting, executive director of Malaria No More UK, says: “Charlie’s story brings a message of hope, this is a fight we can win.
“When London hosts 53 Commonwealth heads of government, there’s a chance for Theresa May and other leaders to take united action that puts the world on a faster path towards a malaria-free world — saving lives and changing the course of history.”
- The Malaria Action Program for Districts is implemented by Malaria Consortium and made possible through the generous support from British and American people through UK Aid and USAID. For more information on preventing the spread of malaria, please visit .
They all had it...
MALARIA has been a plague on humanity for thousands of years.
These are some of the better-known sufferers of the dreadful disease.
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