A Bridgwater teenager who miraculously survived a rare form of meningitis is staging a gig to help find a cure for the killer bug.

Rosie Collington became the first person in the UK, and only the third in the world, to contract deadly varicella zoster meningitis.

The 17-year-old was rushed to hospital for life-saving treatment and within weeks she had made a full recovery to scoop a perfect set of A and A* GCSE grades.

Bridgwater College student Rosie was on holiday in Egypt when the illness struck last year. She failed to respond to conventional treatments before the rare strain was discovered.

She said: “Thankfully I was treated just in time. If I'd got to hospital any later then I would have fallen into a coma, lost my hearing, sight, or possibly died.

“It's such a dangerous disease so I feel lucky to have pulled through.”

In a bid to protect others from going through her nightmare, Rosie is organising the gig at The Duke on Sunday at 6.30pm to raise cash to fund Meningitis UK's research into finding a vaccine.

Steve Dayman, who founded the charity after his son Spencer died from the disease, said: “We're really grateful for Rosie's fundraising efforts.

“We were pleased to hear that she made such a good recovery thanks to prompt treatment at hospital.

“Every penny Rosie raises will go towards our single focus - to find a vaccine to eradicate meningitis and save thousands of lives in the future.”