A student whose twin sister suddenly died with meningitis has described the devastating loss for the first time after running a half marathon for charity in her memory to commemorate the year they should have both turned 21.
Inara Merali, 21, a psychology student who is currently based in Bath, shared a "super close" bond with her twin sister Sefia before she passed away aged 19 in November 2022. She died just two days after being diagnosed with meningitis an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, and Inara has described the loss as like losing part of herself.
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.
Read next
Blind TikTok star with millions of followers opens up on losing her eyesight at 17
'I flew 11 hours for a 10-day first date with a man I met on holiday'
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 as a child and would always be running about or climbing up a tree. She was super brave but she valued her quiet time as well, her time for herself. She was into reading, she loved movies and loved going to hang out with her friends, going for coffees and stuff."
Inara first became aware of Sefia being under the weather at the beginning of November 2022. She said: "She just hadn't been well over the weekend so my mum went to go pick her up from uni. She was having seizures in the car and mum went to hospital when they got back to London."
Inara discovered that it was serious that same Sunday evening, when she received a call from a family friend to say that Sefia had been taken to hospital. She added: "I went home on the Monday morning because I got that call quite late in the evening. I think from the moment they admitted her, they knew it was serious."
Sefia was placed on a ventilator and by the Tuesday, her family was dealt the news that she was brain dead. Inara said: "I think everyone was conscious of how serious it was and had been expecting the worst. Sefia wasn't the type to get ill so when she did, we knew it was bad."
On November 8, 2022, Inara and her family surrounded Sefia as her life support was turned off. "At the time it was quite tough," Inara said. "When I went back to uni I did like two or three days before coming home for a few days."
Inara found that throwing herself into activities like netball helped to occupy her mind as she learnt to come to terms with her loss. She said: "Initially, after everything had happened, I was like 'oh, I need to do something', but I wasn't really ready to actually pursue or commit to anything."
"Then, over the summer, I'd go on the Meningitis Now website to look at what events they had and I saw the London Landmarks half marathon. "I thought it was something I fancied doing. It looked good and with it being in London as well, it made sense."
Inara took part in the event, which was her first half marathon, on April 7. She said: "I really enjoyed it because I ran with one of my close family friends who I roped into doing it with me and it was really fun. All my family and friends were there and I was looking forward to seeing all the Meningitis Now team at mile nine."
Inara was "really shocked" that she managed to raise more than £7,000 for the Meningitis Now charity a sum which she said "really surpassed" her expectations. She said: "I really enjoyed having a plan and something to work towards. It's definitely something Sefia would have thought I would have done and I really would like to do something similar in the future."
Pascale Harvie, president and general manager of JustGiving, said: "The immense loss that Inara has experienced, especially at such a young age is simply unimaginable. By turning her grief into something so positive she is undoubtedly helping so many people. Almost 200 people have donated to Inara's JustGiving page, raising more than £7,000 and counting for Meningitis Now. Congratulations Inara on this fantastic achievement."
To donate or find out more, visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Inara-Merali.
