Smiling with his mum, 16-year-old Joshua Brooks looks the picture of health. But when he was just two, chicken pox left him fighting for his life – with doctors warning his family he might not make it through the night. ‌

While most children shrug off the illness, chicken pox can in rare cases cause life-threatening complications. Joshua was struck down with varicella-zoster encephalitis – a severe inflammation of the brain – after catching the virus in 2011. ‌

Mum Judy recalled: “He became unresponsive and was rushed to Addenbrooke's Hospital, placed on life support and given a CT scan. We were told to prepare for him not making it through the night, but somehow he pulled through. ‌

“It was horrible seeing all the wires and tubes. The weeks and months that followed were terri

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