'My life was transformed when I got rare sheep disease on holiday'

When Sally Crowe returned from holiday with what felt like "the worst hangover ever" she had no idea it would transform her life forever.

The illness would leave her bedbound for almost two years and struggling with its after effects for more than a decade, but she says it has ultimately given her a new outlook on life.

Sally, who runs a 65-acre croft with sheep and cattle in Caithness, has become a popular figure after featuring on BBC TV show This Farming Life.

But the 48-year-old says her approach to farming had to change after she caught Q fever on a visit to Western Australia in 2012.

She had been visiting friends who were working in a sheep-shearing shed when she caught the rare and potentially life-threatening airborne disease contracted from farm animals.

When she returned to the UK feeling unwell her initial symptoms left medics stumped.

"I went back and forth to the doctors and they had no idea what it could be," Sally says.

"We looked at Lyme disease which is very similar to Q fever but nothing came back."

She says it took 18 months to figure out what was causing her symptoms.

"Initially I was diagnosed with ME - a chronic fatigue - and told there was nothing they could do," she says.

"I had gone from being really active to doing nothing and spending 18 hours a day in bed."

Even after being diagnosed, it was another four years until Sally found a treatment plan that had an impact.

"When we found out it was Q fever there weren't many treatment options in Scotland," she says.

"I had heard of it but it's very rare here.

"Only 5% of people who get the infection actually go on to develop chronic Q fever so it's just one of those really unlucky things.

"It's a hard infection to treat, the medication can't kill the infection, it will always be there. You can only get it under control."

After carrying out research online, Sally found a specialist in South Africa and started treatment in 2016.

She was put on a year-long course of drugs consisting of one week of antibiotics followed by three weeks of an anti-malarial medication.

"It was really rough, going through week after week of treatment," she says.

"It was really awful at times and hard going.

"The first couple of months I didn't feel much difference but the third month hit me hard and really kicked in."

Despite a challenging start to the treatment it soon became life-changing, as week- by-week pieces of her life were put back in place.

She welcomed her son William in 2019 through IVF and has since found a new appreciation for putting life before work.

"I realised I couldn't go on doing what I was doing," she says

"I was burning myself out, I wasn't making any money and I thought I would have to give up the croft.

"I spent a long time being seriously ill, when you don't have the energy to do the things you want and you've been stuck in bed for so long, you realise what is important.

"It completely changed my life. Now if I do physical work one day I can only do something that involves mental strength the next."

Sally continues to run the croft - which has been in her family since 1972 - with 60 breeding ewes, about nine cows and dozens of hens.

But her main joy is spending time with her six-year-old son William.

"I feed the cows before my son finishes school and do the basics on the croft then spend time with William," she says.

"I don't work weekends usually - they are there to enjoy.

"I want to spend time with him and hang out. He is six now and still thinks I am really cool.

"So I probably only have another seven or so years of that, I want to make the most of it."

According to the NHS website, Q fever is a bacterial infection you can catch from infected farm animals such as sheep, cattle and goats. It's usually harmless, but it can cause serious problems.

Some people get flu-like symptoms within two to three weeks of being infected, including a high temperature, aching muscles, tiredness and feeling sick.

It is most often spread to humans by close contact with infected farm animals, especially through their blood, urine, faeces and animal skin, fur and wool.

Although Q fever is rare, people who work closely with animals are more at risk, such as farmers, vets, stable hands and abattoir workers.

There is currently no licensed vaccine for Q fever available in the UK.

Chronic Q fever sometimes leads to serious heart problems, such as endocarditis.