Alexandra Burke - X Factor 2008

Melissa Bell, the mother of X Factor winner Alexandra Burke, has told the Daily Mail today how Alexandra nearly didn’t make it to Boot Camp because Melissa was so ill.

Back in July, just three weeks before Alexandra left her hometown for Boot Camp, Melissa’s life took “a horrible and unexpected turn” when she became seriously ill as a consequence of her diabetes.

Melissa told the newspaper, “The night before, I had gone to bed feeling tired and ill, and on the Sunday morning, I just couldn’t get up.

“I assumed that it was flu, because I didn’t even have the energy to lift my head from the pillow. Alexandra came in and sat on my bed. She said, “Mum, you need to see a doctor”, but I disagreed.

“She wanted to call an ambulance, but I was insistent she should do no such thing, saying, ‘I’m not that ill. I don’t want to waste NHS time.’”

However, it wasn’t flu bug that was making Melissa so ill, she’d gone into kidney failure Melissa then fell into a coma and her children, Sheniece, David, Alexandra, and Aaron were warned that treatment “might be too late.”

All her family could do was watch and wait as she fought back from the life threatening illness.

Melissa said, “For two weeks, the children stayed by my side, not knowing if I’d survive.

“At one point, I opened my eyes and saw about 25 doctors, all shaking their heads. I don’t know how Alexandra coped.

“One minute she was a young girl getting ready for Boot Camp; the next, she was worrying her mother might die, and trying to be strong for her younger brother.”

Fortunately, Melissa made a speedy recovery which meant that Alexandra felt able to attend Boot Camp. She of course then went from strength to strength and ultimately won the X Factor crown.