Hen do pals thought I’d just downed too many drinks at bottomless brunch – until deadly infection left me unable to eat

WHEN Olivia Harrison was throwing up during her hen do bottomless brunch, her pals assumed she had had one too many drinks. The following day, the sickness continued and the 28-year-old bride-to-be was vomiting every 30 minutes. Her family blamed “wedding nerves” and assured her she’d be fine. Olivia, 28, during her hen do – before it all went horribly wrong Credit: Kennedy News When she worsened she visited the GP hoping for some anti-sickness medication but was ‘shocked’ to be rushed to hospital Credit: Kennedy News But when Olivia was rushed to the hospital, the doctors discovered something was seriously wrong – it was a deadly infection that ultimately left her unable to enjoy the lavish £4k wedding meal a week later. It was discovered she had acute gastroenteritis and Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection of the colon. Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter Thank you! C. diff lives in people’s bowels and can spread from those infected and surfaces they touch – and Olivia believes she probably caught it from someone she’d been in contact with. Feeling “heartbroken” at the thought of cancelling her wedding Olivia was forced to spend two nights in hospital on a drip but was discharged less than 24 hours before her big day. The 28-year-old bride keeling over on the floor during the celebrations as she was in so much pain Credit: Kennedy News Despite the pain, the Cheshire-based bride managed to stay up until 1am Credit: Kennedy News The “relieved” bride says adrenaline helped her through the day but she remained sober and was ‘really sad’ to miss out on the three-course dinner the couple had forked out £4,000 for. Taking to TikTok Olivia shared video footage captioned “you go to the doctors two days before your wedding hoping for anti-sickness meds but end up spending your last night together as an unmarried couple in a hospital bed”. In the clip you can see the bride-to-be looking sadly at the camera dressed in a hospital gown lying in bed. Another clip shows Olivia in her lavish wedding dress keeled over on the floor during the celebrations as she was in so much pain. Olivia says it was still “the best day of her life” and made her realise that “if you go in wanting everything to be perfect it’s not going to be perfect”. Most read in Fabulous Olivia, who lives in Chester, Cheshire, said: “I was shocked to be hospitalised a couple of days before my wedding. It was surreal. I was just laying in the bed looking at my partner thinking ‘what are we doing here’. “I managed to pull it together for a bit during bottomless brunch and about half way through I was just throwing up. “Everyone thought I was drunk and I was like ‘I assure you I’m not’ and I went home and ended up throwing up every half an hour for the next day. “Everyone was like ‘your wedding is a whole week away, you’ll be fine by then’. But I just woke up every morning feeling worse instead of better. “Everyone was saying it was nerves for the big day. I think maybe nerves were a tiny part of me. At that point I was more nervous about being ill for the wedding. “I was just gutted in case I didn’t start feeling even just a little bit better. I didn’t know how I was going to get through the day. It wasn’t even an option in my head to cancel it. “Obviously I wanted to get married because I was excited. It would’ve been heartbreaking to cancel it.” After being hospitalised Olivia was given a 10-day course of antibiotics and anti-sickness medication to get her through the wedding day. Despite having to cut her photoshoot short and not being able to indulge in the charcuterie board, posh BBQ or wedding cake due to her stomach pains she managed to last until 1am. Olivia said: “I’m so relieved my big day went ahead regardless. I’d be devastated if it didn’t happen. It was still the best day of my life. Even if I was ill I’d still relive the day. “I woke up feeling okay but I think adrenaline was just getting me through. The ceremony was perfect, it was so amazing. “We went to have photos straight after and that was when it hit me. In between each one I’d just sit on the floor. “At that point I didn’t even care if my dress got dirty. In a nice way I didn’t really care about anything. We had to stop photos a bit early so I could go to sit down. “I had bouts of when the anti-sickness medication kicked in and I had a solid hour where I felt great and I was dancing and it was all fine. But when it wore off I was like ‘oh god’. “I was completely sober, which was fine. I think I had one cocktail and it made me feel sick so I thought ‘this is just not worth it’. “I literally just ate a bread roll and a handful of crackers. It was really sad. I wanted to eat the food so bad but even to get the crackers in me was a struggle.” The newlywed, who first met her partner in 2018 at university, hopes to reassure other brides that ‘it’ll still be the best day anyway’ despite things going wrong. Olivia said: “On the day all this stuff I thought was important I actually didn’t care about and it was fine. “There’s so much stuff in preparation that I didn’t do. I didn’t wax my legs like I’d planned to and I shaved them in the morning and I had to cancel my lash appointment. “Know that things will go wrong but it’ll still be the best day anyway. I think if you go in wanting everything to be perfect it’s not going to be perfect. If you go in, try to be chill about it.” Clostridioides difficile Clostridioides difficile is a type of bacteria that can cause diarrhoea. It often affects people who have been taking antibiotics. Common symptoms of a C. diff infection include: diarrhoea a high temperature loss of appetite feeling sick a stomach ache. How you get a C. diff infection: C. diff bacteria usually live harmlessly in your bowel along with lots of other types of bacteria. But sometimes when you take antibiotics, the balance of bacteria in your bowel can change, causing an infection. When someone has a C. diff infection, it can spread to other people very easily if the bacteria found in the person’s poo get onto objects and surfaces. Comment now