London student lost 'part of herself' after twin sister, 19, died after being left brain dead two days after diagnosis
| Published date | 16 April 2024 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
After being placed on a ventilator, Sefia was pronounced brain dead and she was surrounded by her family, including their younger brother Rafi, now 16, when her life support was switched off on November 8, 2022.
Since Sefia's death, Inara recalls wanting to do something in her memory and, after spotting information on the London Landmarks half marathon on the Meningitis Now website, Inara completed the race on April 7, raising more than £7,000 for the charity as a result. Originally from London, Inara is currently based in Bath and told PA Real Life: "It's like losing a part of you, that's the only way I can describe it."
"Meningitis was kind of on my radar because you always hear about people from uni getting seriously ill from it. Even in my first year at university, someone had contracted it and was seriously ill and we all got a campus-wide email about it saying to be careful but I never really thought it would actually happen to someone close to me."
Growing up, the sisters were very close and, while they were not identical, Inara recalled people often thinking they were. In 2021, the pair separated for the first time as they moved away to different universities, with Inara living in Bath and Sefia based in Brighton.
Inara said: "I think we both wanted to be our own person because we'd always been grouped together. I think we were both quite excited for having our own circles."
Despite the distance, Inara and Sefia would call each other nearly every day and the 21-year-old said that her sister "came into her own" at university. She added: "Sefia was one of the nicest people ever.
"She was really, really kind and a really good friend, and super supportive of everyone that she'd met. At school, she was quite introverted but she really came into her own at uni and loved to socialise, loved meeting new people and stuff like that. When she went to uni, she really found her place."
Sefia was studying ecology and conservation when her life was cut short by meningitis. Inara said: "She hadn't particularly decided what career she wanted to go into but we would like to imagine her in the wildlife somewhere." She was really adventurous...
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