A dad has told how he was left paralysed after eating a curry from his favourite Indian takeaway.
David Miller said he almost died after tucking into his regular order, a chicken Bhuna. The 43-year-old was quickly struck down with severe food poisoning and then developed an auto-immune disorder that caused him to lose the use of his limbs.
He stopped being able to breathe properly and couldn't walk or see clearly and was left in pain for months.
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The web contractor, from London but now based in Lincolnshire, then suffered from a stomach bug caused by the curry for two months. David, a super-fit cyclist, then started feeling tingling in his hands and feet two months later.
This led to near-full paralysis where he couldn't roll over in bed, needed a wheelchair to get around and spent two and a half months in hospital. He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, caused when the immune system is low.
He first fell ill in 2016 but has now chosen to speak about his six-year recuperation. His recovery has been so miraculous, David is now preparing to run his first marathon after the incident.
David said: "It was pretty scary. Obviously we didn't go back to that restaurant again. It was a steep decline, I went from having tingling and pins and needles in my hands and feet to needing a wheelchair to get into hospital a week later.
"Some people die from this syndrome. It works its way from the extremities through your core and can stop your breathing. Imagine looking at your body and trying to make it move and it doesn't."
David suspects that it all stems from the food poisoning he believes he contracted after eating the chicken curry. This lasted a week and led to David suffering from painful gastroenteritis for two months.
The food poisoning and following painful stomach bug meant his immune system was compromised. He was just back at work in December having moved to Lincoln that same month, when over Christmas the numbness and tingling started.
A week later he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare and serious condition which can lead to life-long problems. It happens when a weakened immune system starts to attack its own nerve cells, damaging them.
David was admitted to hospital in early January 2017 and put into intensive care after his breathing became compromised. The father of two daughters, Elise, now seven, and Eva, three, said: "I was worried about my breathing, I could tell I wasn't breathing strongly.
"I was never fully paralysed, I still had some movement in my hips but not enough to even roll over in bed with."
He remembers not even being able to watch football properly, as the nerve damage had affected his eyes and ability to focus them. His wife Kirsty was at home with their 18-month-old baby girl Elise, who didn't recognise him in the hospital bed.
David said: "I remember my wife putting her on me when I was lying in bed. Elise very clearly didn't want to be there. It was upsetting, certainly odd."
When David was released from hospital two and a half months later he was still using crutches and walking sticks to move around and installed grab rails around their new house.
He has since made a full recovery with no sign of any lasting side effects and is using his returned physical abilities to run the London marathon this April. David added: It makes you think a little bit more about life and focus on the now.
"I've been doing that more recently. I've taken more time off work and being ill was definitely a contributing factor in that. With the marathon I'm raising money for the John Muir Trust.
"I've been worrying about the future more recently and the money raised will go to protecting our forests."
To find out more, or to sponsor David, click here
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