A surfer was left unable to walk properly and suffering from memory loss after a tick bite received at a festival led to Lyme disease.
Joe Blackaby, 22, was bitten by the tick while at Reading Festival, but simply pulled the tiny bug from his leg and thought nothing of it.
When Joe, from Caldicot, Wales, woke up feeling unwell the next morning, he brushed it off as a hangover.
But when Joe's health continued to deteriorate, he knew something was wrong with his body and went to see his GP.
Incredibly, it took three years for the 22-year-old to be diagnosed with Lyme disease - an infection caused by bacteria spread by ticks.
Joe said the disease, contracted at the festival in 2013, has "taken his life away" and has left him struggling to walk, talk and do simple tasks without feeling exhausted.
He also has major problems with memory, cannot focus his vision and suffers spasms similar to a Parkinson's patient.
Joe said: "It's an awful feeling watching your body deteriorate so rapidly, yet I would do anything to get better from this disease."
He claimed that so little is known about his condition that doctors in Wales do not know how to treat him.
"My doctor has given up on me getting better, but I have not given up on myself," he added.
In most cases patients begin to improve following a three-week course of antibiotics, but in Joe's case it has lasted six years and counting.
He said the infection has affected most of his major organs, including his heart and left him with debilitating neurological issues.
"Every day is a battle to keep fighting," added Joe who used to be a keen surfer.
"I have memory issues and I do not remember things from my past. Photos of me feel like someone else's life. It makes life feel meaningless when you forget everything you have done.
"My brain will often feel like it is on fire as it gets inflamed. At these times I can't communicate at all. I just lie in a dark room for weeks waiting for it to pass."
Joe said he has lost a considerable amount of weight as his body is no longer able to absorb nutrition from his food properly.
"I feel like a shell of my former self," he added.
"The bacteria is eating the cartilage in my body and causing bones in my spine to move out of place, resulting in muscle tears. It's very painful and upsetting.
"I know the more time that passes the more irreversible damage my body goes through, but currently there is nothing I can do but watch it happen."
Joe insisted the only way he can get his life back is by travelling to Jemsek Clinic in the United States, which specialises in Lyme disease.
He said clinicians will offer him a structured antibiotic protocol in a bid to combat his complex range of symptoms.
"The clinic has helped thousands of others overcome this illness and I have faith the same can happen for me," he added.
A friend of Joe's set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise the money he needs to get to the USA.
And within just two months the total has already reached more then £20,000.
"I thought it would get to about £200, maybe £600 after a couple of months," he said.
"But one day it just get shared so many times. It gives me hope that I will be able to go to America one day and finally get better."
In response a Welsh Government spokeswoman said: "NHS Wales should follow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance on Lyme disease, which covers awareness raising for healthcare professionals, clinical guidance on the diagnosis and management of the disease and information for patients.”
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