Mekala Osborne asks Lewis Capaldi to send video message to avid fan currently recovering from severe brain damage

Mekala Osborne is calling on the Scottish singer to send her friend, who has suffered severe brain damage, an uplifting message.

An East Lothian personal trainer who is recovering from a near-fatal infection is calling on Lewis Capaldi to send a message to a friend she met in rehabilitation who has suffered severe brain damage.

Mekala Osborne, 22, contracted a deadly form of pneumonia while on a once in a lifetime holiday in Vietnam in September last year which sent her into a coma, and has since spent time regaining her speech and strength in Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh.

It is here where she met 21-year-old Meghan Baillie who suffered a hypoxic brain injury after taking a lethal drug overdose in May this year.

Mekala Osborne and Meghan Baillie at Astley Ainslie Hospital in Edinburgh and Lewis Capaldi

The young women, whose rooms are side-by-side, have formed a close friendship during their time in rehabilitation, during which Mekala learnt that her newfound friend is a Capaldi fan.

In a bid to keep spirits high for Meghan, who has recently been told that her brain damage is so severe she will need permanent care for life, Mekala is calling on the singer to send a video message to his avid fan wishing her well.

"When Meghan moved in nextdoor she wasn’t able to talk,” Mekala said, “but since she’s started saying a few words she’s been singing along to Lewis Capaldi’s songs all the time and listens to them daily.

"It would mean so much if he sent a video message to her wishing her well and saying something funny like he usually does.”

Meghan fell into cardiac arrest for one and a half hours after overdosing on an anti-anxiety drug and was taken into ICU at Crosshouse Hospital near Kilmarnock before being transferred to rehabilitation.

According to her sister, Lauren, doctors said she will have brain damage for life and will need 24 hour care.

Speaking to the News Mekala reflected on her own recovery in the past year and said she would not have got to where she is now if it wasn’t for the kindness and encouragement she has received from staff, friends and family along the way.

"I think it's really important when in rehab to get all the support and positive company you can. I don’t think I’d be talking and starting to walk if I didn’t have that,” said Mekala, who has recently taken her first steps after more than 300 days of being almost paralysed by the infection.

"I have been in that situation, waking up from a coma and it’s a terrifying experience.

"Strange faces around you and unable to speak to anyone.

"I had my mum but I also wish I had a friendly face who had been through something similar, and that’s who I want to be for Meghan, especially during this time in the pandemic when we are restricted to seeing just one family member a few hours each week.

"I want her to have that bit of positivity in her life and I think it would be great to get a bit of Lewis Capaldi in her life, to say something funny and lighthearted, he’s good at that.”

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