
Brit fighting for life after catching deadly disease on all-inclusive at hols hotspot
Donna Jobling, 57, from west Hull, came down with Legionnaires' disease on the island of Crete, and is in intensive care.
2
2
She is receiving urgent treatment at Venizeleio Hospital in Heraklion after falling ill just days into the trip.
Donna was holidaying with her husband Sidney and friends Paula and Nicolas Mason, also of Hull.
The group had been enjoying a £1,500-per-couple all-inclusive trip when Donna fell ill.
She developed a chest infection and needed lots of rest, and then became seriously ill two days later.
Donna, who suffers from "complex" medical conditions including epilepsy, was taken to hospital on June 11 and doctors put her in an induced coma.
Tests confirmed she had contracted Legionnaires' disease, which triggered acute respiratory failure and pneumonia.
Her "devastated" family has flown out to be by her side.
Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
7 minutes ago
- BBC News
Northampton General Hospital chaplain retires after 28 years
A hospital chaplain has retired after 28 years of offering support to patients, staff and George Sarmezey, who has just turned 64, stepped down from his role at Northampton General Hospital on first joined the chaplaincy team in 1997 on a three-year contract, but when his senior colleague left, he ended up "stepping into his shoes"."I stayed [in the job] for 28 years for family reasons but also there wasn't anything better out there and I just enjoy the ministry and the job," he explained. The chaplaincy team supports the religious, spiritual and pastoral needs of everyone on the hospital site, including patients, visitors and Sarmezey had previously worked as an assistant priest in Bristol and Swindon and carried out visiting on wards at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. He said he applied for the job after seeing it advertised in The Church Times. 'Don't really retire' One of the highlights of his time at the hospital, he said, was working on a 2008 project with the King's Fund to refurbish a bereavement suite."The big cultural change... was rather than the families going to the wards to collect the paperwork, they would be able to talk to a dedicated bereavement officer and that was a huge positive change," he plans to take holidays, pick up the guitar again, and continue leading services locally."I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also very aware that priests don't really retire!" he added. The hospital's director of nursing thanked the reverend for his "incredible support for our patients, their families and all of our colleagues"."His friendly, reassuring, and deeply sensitive, approach has been invaluable and very much appreciated during his 28 years of dedicated service," said Jo Smith."He has made such a difference to the services we provide our patients and staff." Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.


BBC News
7 minutes ago
- BBC News
Daventry MP committed to constituency despite new shadow role
The new shadow health secretary said he is still committed to his constituency describing it as his "bread and butter".Stuart Andrew took on the role in Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch's reshuffle of her senior team last MP for Daventry was previously the shadow culture secretary and a minister in Boris Johnson's he said his work in the constituency was the "part of the job I absolutely love doing. So it's really it's about making sure you put in the hours". Andrew replaced Edward Argar, who stood down following a "health scare".He told BBC Radio Northampton's Annabel Amos that the offer of the role was "quite a surprise"."I'm under no illusions of the enormity of the task I have ahead of me, but it is one that I have quite an interest in. So I'm looking forward to it," he MP said he is "quite used to" juggling constituency work and being in the shadow cabinet."I know that my constituency is my bread and butter if you like, [constituents] are always are a priority for me."I always do what I can to help my constituents when they come and see me asking for my help and go out and about." 'Tricky position' The MP, who represented Pudsey in West Yorkshire from 2010 until the constituency was abolished before the July 2024 election, said he would "work constructively" with Health Secretary Wes Andrew was critical of his handling of the recent strike by resident doctors in England and said the health secretary should have put in guarantees over industrial action when medics were awarded a pay rise last year."The government have got themselves in a really tricky position, and what we need to do is make sure that the patients in this country are getting the care that they need," he has also written to the General Medical Council to say resident doctors should be prevented from British Medical Association (BMA), a trade union for doctors, and the health secretary agreed to resume talks earlier this warned the union it had lost the government's goodwill because of the latest strike, which finished on Wednesday. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.


The Independent
37 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘I don't regret I stopped breastfeeding to take Ozempic. I should have done it sooner'
I remember standing in the bathroom that October morning in 2023, exhausted, staring at the scale. The number – 88kg, or about 13 stone – hit harder than I expected. I wasn't shocked, exactly, but I had been avoiding the scale for months. Something about seeing that number in black and white made it feel official: I didn't look or feel like myself anymore. My maternity clothes were still too tight. My face was fuller, my body unfamiliar. The baby was here, and healthy and I was grateful for that. But I was lost. I'd been through this cycle before. When I became pregnant with my firstborn, Lewis, in early 2019, I weighed around 65kg, or three stone lighter, which is more or less where I'd always been. At 5ft8, that felt like home: a stable, healthy weight where I had a good relationship with food and with myself. I was in my early thirties – young enough to 'snap back' after pregnancy (or so I thought). Yet, I was more preoccupied with it than I imagined – after his beautiful birth (a low-stress C-section since he was breech), one of the first things I did was get on the scale. Yet I was baffled: how does a baby weighing seven pounds result in a loss of only five, I thought? Postpartum, I did drop a few more pounds, eventually to around 77kg or 12 stone, but never below that again. Granted, I didn't diet or exercise particularly aggressively – I'm not built that way – but I stayed stuck. Then, later into my thirties, came Luke, my second son. I stopped looking at the scales midway through. Regardless of the fact that my body was doing this miraculous thing, despite how overjoyed I felt to have two healthy boys, I couldn't prevent the wash of shame – and anxiety, disgust, even – that seeing '15 stone' on my record post-birth provoked. I carried guilt along with the extra weight. Breastfeeding was supposed to be straightforward. According to the thousands – the parenting circles, the health campaigns and comment sections – who religiously repeat the mantra, 'breast is best', and, they'll add, it burns calories! It'll help you lose your pregnancy weight! Yet, that's not exactly a proven theory – and, for so many women, it just doesn't work. Plus, behind the slogans lies a trap of judgment and internal conflict: women face pressure if they can't breastfeed and pressure if they do – especially beyond six months, pressure that is linked with increased postpartum anxiety. The moment that someone stops early, even pain-ridden or supply-stricken mothers, a new wave of judgment from formula-shaming peers, and even loved ones. Couple that shame, then, with the enduring stigma of postpartum weight loss, and with the new judgment du jour – using injectables like Ozempic. Behind closed doors, in hushed voices at the playground, there are plenty of us talking about it both in the US, where I live, and the UK. In fact, I've noticed an increase in women around me using injectables, some to get them back to their pre-pregnancy weight, many of them stopping breastfeeding to do so. Reportedly, though I've never been invited to any myself, there are WhatsApp groups for so-called 'sema[glutide]-mums' – and, though I was able to get mine through my own doctor and work benefits in the States, many end up paying through the nose for it themselves. But, in the end, like me, they had to put their own mental health first. For me, breastfeeding Lewis was agony: I had bleeding nipples, terrifying letdown pain, a baby who fed for ages and still seemed unsatisfied. I alternated between breastfeeding, pumping and formula. When nothing helped, I felt I had failed. When I switched fully to formula, I felt relief and – you guessed it – more shame. With Luke, I tried again: this time I battled low supply, consulted lactation consultants, fixed his tongue‑tie, used nipple shields – but still, nursing felt like torture. I couldn't sleep at night; the obsessive feeding schedule crushed every ounce of mental stability. Two pregnancies and years of disrupted sleep and self-care meant I was stuck. Not just in my body, but in the overwhelming pressure to 'snap back'. The idea that 'bouncing back' – re-emerging with their pre-baby bodies weeks after delivery – is only reinforced by media that praises celebrity mums who manage it, and highlights those who retain their postpartum weight as failures. There's a catch though, as we're now learning: you might be negligent if you remain overweight – but medicating to lose it? Also, not good enough. According to most (admittedly) literature and experts, taking Ozempic while breastfeeding is not recommended – while we know the substance transfers to milk, we don't know the effects that might have on the baby. I knew that, while some people take it alongside nursing their babies, I wouldn't have ever taken that risk. So, by October 2023, I had stopped breastfeeding Luke out of sheer discomfort and in an attempt to regain parts of myself I had lost. My energy was gone. My self-esteem teetered at the edge of collapse. Food noise was intolerable – breastfeeding had left me so hungry, and my hormones were all over the place. I would wake up in the night and eat a whole bag of sweets, or go to McDonald's and compulsively order 20 chicken McNuggets – it was all so out of character and out of control. I thought that taking my ADHD medication again – from which I'd abstained during breastfeeding – might help me shed a few pounds, but when it didn't, I went straight to plan B: Ozempic. I was lucky that I had people around me supporting me, some of whom, like my mother-in-law and a friend, had safely used weight loss injectables themselves. That made the decision seem less shameful. I chose the lowest dose (0.25mg) to begin with, and then doubled it. The shift was magical: within days, food stopped crowding my mind. I wasn't waking at night to binge. My appetite, finally, felt normal and I wasn't having destabilising side effects. My son was thriving on formula – finally happy to have more than enough to eat – and within weeks, I was slipping back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. And the success only continued. By the middle of last year, I was back down to around 10 stone. I'm not skinny – but that was never really my prerogative. More importantly, I felt stable, energetic, and I felt like myself again. I could chase my kids around, feel present and engaged. Ozempic was never laziness or a cop-out – it was medicine that helped me restore a version of myself I'd lost. Of course, the shame still lingers in some circles. There's one friend I know I'd never tell (though I wouldn't lie if she asked). Despite the fact that she's a nurse, she made very strong comments about being 'against' the drugs when I was first going on them (I found it interesting to find out that she took them herself around six months later and lost 10kg). Some friends I've never told because they've never asked, others think I lost the weight another way, oblivious to the internal struggle I had to wage. It's not unusual to be discreet about it – judgment is still rife and, sometimes, you just have to protect your own peace. It's why the 'secret jabbers' (people feeling pressured to hide their Ozempic use) phenomenon is so widespread. Somehow, it's seen as a moral failing of sorts to use it over diet or 'self-control'. As a result, experts are calling for weight-loss medication to be understood as treating a chronic condition, not as a so-called shortcut. I believe that women should be able to make their own informed decisions about their own babies and their own bodies. I don't regret stopping breastfeeding early. I also don't regret taking Ozempic. These choices helped me reclaim my body and my mental health. They gave me energy, restored my confidence, and let me move freely in my life again. The more women who hear this without stigma – that whatever choice you make will be best for you and your baby – the more women who hopefully will avoid spiralling in private shame. Maybe someone will feel more at ease skipping another painful feeding session, or feel brave enough to ask their doctor about weight-loss medication without embarrassment. Ultimately, a cultural shift is needed: less 'fat talk', more celebration of postpartum diversity. Fewer whispers of 'just eat less' and more acceptance of body change – especially the radical transformation that pregnancy and birth prompts – as a part of life. Let's say that freedom from food noise is worthy. Some women might find healing through treadmill miles, others through letting go of milk and allowing a drug to help them reset. That's me and I can say, hand on heart, that it's been nothing short of life-changing for me. Currently, I weigh around 68kg (10.5 stone). I don't feel fat. I don't feel ashamed. I do feel healthy. And I do feel at peace with myself and able to enjoy being a hands-on mum. I'm still trying to find balance – some days I eat better and move my body more than others, but that's OK. I learned that my worth isn't tied to the size of my jeans or anyone else's opinion about that. The only regret I have is not doing it all sooner.