FRIENDS and family of a Caerwent teenager who died from Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) have raised more than £3,500 in her memory.

Natasha Scott-Faber was 14 when she died from TSS in 2013, and her family created the TSS Aware charity to spread awareness of TSS symptoms and to leave a legacy for Natasha.

Last month on National TSS Awareness Day (26th February), which would have been Natasha’s 19th birthday, 24 of her friends and family travelled to Zip World in Snowdonia to take on a sponsored zip wire challenge.

The £3,500 they raised will go towards the first phase of building a drop-in centre for homeless children in Iringa, Tanzania. The centre will provide financial, educational and emotional support to the vulnerable children of Iringa, and will be built in memory of Natasha.

Natasha had visited East Africa and been involved with building homes for orphans in Uganda, and so her family describe the drop-in centre as a fitting legacy.

The 24 daring fundraisers had braced themselves to tackle Velocity, the fastest zipline in the world, but poor weather meant they took on the Zip World Caverns instead. This included a series of rope bridges and zip wires through an underground cavern, and ended with the steepest zip wire in the UK.

Natasha’s mum Mandy Scott said: “The weekend went really well. We didn’t do Velocity because of the weather, so we took on the one in the caves instead. It took us around two-and-a-half hours, and it was very exciting. There were 24 of us, and everyone did it, even those that found it challenging because they were scared of confined spaces. The guides are very experienced and put us all at ease.

“So far we’ve raised around £3,500, but I anticipate this to increase. It will cover the first phase of building the centre in Tanzania, and of course raised lots of awareness of TSS.”

TSS is caused by certain bacteria found on the skin, nose or mouth entering the body’s bloodstream and releasing poisonous toxins, and is most commonly caused by a retained tampon.

Symptoms usually begin with a sudden high fever, followed rapidly by other symptoms, which may include: vomiting, skin rash, diarrhoea, fainting, muscle aches, a sunburn-like skin rash, dizziness and confusion.

For more information on TSS and sponsorship, visit www.tssaware.org.uk