A former Gatwick Airport worker woke from a coma to find she was the mother of a six-week-old girl.

Carina Marong could not remember having baby Sophia before falling into a coma and missed the first six weeks of her daughter's life.

She was 37 weeks pregnant when she contracted the rare tuberculous form of meningitis.

Despite her illness and intensive treatment, she still managed to give birth naturally at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Two weeks later, Carina, 39, was told she also had the cancer Hodgkin's lymphoma and, weakened by the meningitis, she slipped into a coma.

Doctors concluded she could not survive aggressive chemotherapy and rated her chances of recovery as slight.

Against all the odds, Carina started to recover and slowly regained basic functions, including her speech and her ability to sit up in bed.

With her husband Abdoulie by her side, she finally pulled out of the coma.

When her family told her she had given birth to a healthy little girl, she could not recall anything about the birth or pregnancy.

Carina, from Hangleton, Hove, who met her husband on holiday in Gambia, said: "I missed the first six weeks of my baby's life but I could have lost so much more.

"The staff in the hospitals could not have been more gentle, caring and tolerant."

On Friday she will visit the doctors and nurses who cared for her.

Recalling the moment she woke from the coma, Carina, who also has another daughter Aisha, three, said: "When I woke everything was dark and I could not feel my heart beating. I thought I had died.

"People were walking around in uniforms and I asked them if they were dead too. Until my husband wheeled me down to show me the sign outside the hospital I would not accept where I was."

Doctors explained to Carina that the meningitis had affected her memory and went on to tell her about her daughter and the birth.

She said: "I could not believe what I was being told. The staff were utterly professional yet totally human and without them I could not have coped with the experience."

Carina's father Robin Barnett said: "In July, Carina was our beautiful, confident daughter and made a delightful speech at our Ruby wedding dinner.

"Three weeks later she was in hospital, confused and disorientated and no one could tell us what was wrong with her.

"We were amazed when her husband rang to say that Sophia, our fourth grandchild, had been born but we greeted the news with mixed emotions as we were still desperately anxious about Carina."

Consultant oncologist David Bloomfield said: "Her meningitis had robbed her of all meaningful movement.

"The only control she had was with her eyes. At that time she was far too ill to contemplate anti-cancer treatment and, although we were hopeful for the best, her chances of major recovery seemed slight.

"The extent of her improvement has been nothing short of miraculous."

To the surprise and relief of the professionals, Carina finally came out of the coma on October 13. Eventually, she was well enough to be transferred to a side room with her baby daughter.

Consultant neurologist Angus Nisbet, who diagnosed Carina with meningitis last August, said: "The Royal Sussex might expect to see about 35 cases of TB a year but only one of the TB meningitis every four or five years. Carina was very ill."