A DEVASTATING bout of meningitis has left a Halesowen teenager paralysed from the neck down as she twice fought her way back from the brink of death.

Grace Kalinski collapsed on February 5 and is now battling to recover in a specialist unit at Southport District General Hospital.

Friends and well-wishers are embarking on a fundraising campaign in support of the feisty 18-year-old who vows every day “I will get better”.

Leading the bid is family friend Susan Batty and husband Alan, vocalist with popular group The Commandments, who are planning a concert at The River Rooms, Stourbridge on Thursday October 9.

Mrs Batty, aged 65, who will have her head shaved during the gig to boost funds, said: “We just wanted her to know that people cared.”

Almost every shop in Halesowen has donated a raffle prize for the event, at which X Factor star Kriss Marco will also perform.

Grace became dangerously ill a week after starting work as a trainee nursery nurse at Squiggles Nursery, Hagley, when she contracted bacterial meningitis.

As well as being paralysed, Grace is unable to breathe without the aid of a ventilator, unable to eat or drink and is fed through a ‘peg’ in her stomach.

Yet her dad Jan, aged 56, said: “She is the most positive young person I know and love.”

The former Halesowen College student was placed in an induced coma and given at a 20 to 30 per cent chance of survival on the critical care ward at Russells Hall Hospital.

Grace was transferred to Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she underwent a six-hour operation to relieve pressure on her spinal cord caused by the meningitis.

Grace also had a tracheotomy which prevented her from being able to speak for some time.

She was moved to Southport’s spinal injuries rehabilitation unit in May where mum Debbie sits with her for nine and a half hours every day.

The 52-year-old is staying in the family’s caravan, pitched on a site a few minutes away from the hospital and her husband, who works in IT at Sandvik, travels to his daughter’s bedside every Thursday, returning home on Sundays.

The couple, who also have two sons aged 23 and 21, are desperate to get Grace home and are planning to care for her in their dining room until their garage can be converted into an apartment for her.

Mrs Kalinski said: “She was a healthy, happy, very witty girl who had just started driving and her first job. This has been an absolute bombshell – horrible.”

Grace will decide where to send the proceeds from the fundraising event, tickets for which are £8 and are available on the night or by calling 07986 577661.