Leeds midwife who survived life-threatening infection is promoting NHS App

Lauren Pickup, from Gildersome, had only been in Tanzania as a 24-year-old volunteer midwife for one week in 2013 when she caught caught an E. coli infection - which led to a chronic kidney condition.

Lauren, who suffered irreversible damage to her kidneys, said she is proud to work for the NHS and is happy to promote the NHS App, which she uses to manage her healthcare via her smartphone or tablet.

She spent three days in hospital in Tanzania before being airlifted to a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, where she spent more than two weeks.

Lauren was then treated at St James's Hospital in Leeds, where a biopsy revealed she had Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome, caused by an E. coli infection.

She had a total of six weeks of dialysis treatment to recover from her acute renal failure.

Lauren, who was off work for five months, has been left with just 30 per cent kidney function due to chronic kidney disease and will need lifelong care.

Lauren, 31, said: “The hospital in Tanzania could not figure out what was wrong and I was diagnosed with several different things from ulcerative colitis to

appendicitis.

“Eventually I was transferred by air ambulance to Nairobi in Kenya where the clinicians recognised that I was in acute renal failure and gave me life-saving dialysis

treatment.

“It was scary - especially as I was alone for eight days while my dad got all the travel vaccinations he needed to allow him to travel and come and see me, which was an emotional time."

She now juggles her career as a midwifery educator for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust with outpatient appointments, daily medication and regular blood tests to monitor her kidney function.

The NHS App is connected to all GP surgeries in England and downloadable to any Apple or Android smartphone or tablet.

Lauren said: "The NHS App makes managing my condition so much easier, as it allows me to book and cancel GP surgery appointments, check the results of my blood tests and

order repeat prescriptions.”

"I'm very proud to work for the NHS and I will need care for the rest of my life so I thought I would be a good ambassador for it.

"The NHS is a wonderful service. Having experienced life in a hospital in another country, I feel like we are very lucky to have the NHS."

Lauren is no stranger to being in front of the camera – having featured on the TV show One Born Every Minute when it was filmed at Leeds General Infirmary.

She is one of nine NHS workers chosen to star in a national marketing campaign promoting the NHS App.