A survivor of a life-threatening blood disease has been awarded a pageantry title which says she will use to give a platform others.

Jessica Tuffield from Gravesend has been crowned Miss Gravesham following her charity work raising funds and awareness for the UK Sepsis Trust.

She survived two separate bouts of the potentially-fatal condition, which can cause catastrophic organ failure.

The 23 year-old was awarded the title of Miss Charity London earlier this year having amassed more than £5,000 in donations after first developing the potentially deadly condition in 2016.

What she first thought was "just a cold" rapidly developed into something much more severe.

She said: “I started to have heavy nose bleeds, which were soon embarrassing because of how random they became.

“My energy levels dropped dramatically and I could barely get myself out of bed.

“I could not lift my head up, was vomiting and became extremely drowsy with a very high temperature."

The former Northfleet School for Girls pupil recovered after treatment but within a year was hospitalised once again with the condition.

Now the pageant queen is hoping to raise awareness and use her new role to do good in the community.

She took part in the Miss England pageant and was a semi finalist.

The reigning title holder of that competition Dr Basha Mukherjee, who appeared on BBC's The One Show earlier this month, awarded Jessica her Miss Gravesham crown at an awards do in London.

Jessica says the competition has played a huge role in rebuilding her confidence and believes her new role will provide an "incredible platform to help charities and inspire younger generations".

She is now urging others to be aware of the symptoms of sepsis.

In September she created a social media campaign for World Sepsis Day, which has now been viewed more than 15,000 times.

Gifts were donated to patients at Darenth Valley Hopsital in Dartford as part of the campaign.

With sepsis she says "the most important thing is time".

"I'm very fortunate," she said. "I'm physically okay now but you read about people who have lost there limbs."

"Time is of the essence. I left feeling how I did for two weeks. If I had left it one more I would not be here."

The Sepsis Survivor UK ambassador pens a blog and after a meet with local MP Adam Holloway has been given a space in the borough magazine to share her top tips.

She said she doesn't want this to be limited just to her experience and would like to see contributions to a more general "signs and symptoms page".

This could deal with anything from serious diseases to more trivial matters such as colds, she added.

Perhaps the biggest part of this conversation she says is mental health.

After overcoming the condition three years ago she was left anxious and fatigued, eventually stepping away from her previous job.

Now a sales executive at G & M Honda in Milton Road, she said its important to discuss mental health and hopes to use her Miss Gravesham title to draw attention to this.

She was interviewed by the BBC this summer to discuss her story.

"I have had so many people reach out because of this," she said. "Five hours after that interview I had a local lady contact me at work to thank me."

Looking forward to 2020 she will use her platform to help charities and schools closer to home and has also been working with the Cyclopark in Gravesend.

"I am honoured to be the first Miss Gravesham to take part in the Miss England Beauty Contest," she said.

"Hopefully I can reduce the stigma that comes with the word pageant and inspire other girls and women from the local area to take part.

"My role is to go out there and give them a voice and a platform."

To find out more about the UK Sepsis Trust visit sepsistrust.org

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