On the 4th of September I was admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit in New Cross hospital with suspected Guillain-Barré Syndrome and aspirational pneumonia.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) affects the nerves of the limbs of the body and is usually triggered by an infection. The main symptom is sudden onset of weakness in the muscles that are supplied by the affected nerves. It requires immediate hospital admission as it can rapidly become very serious. With appropriate treatment and monitoring most people make a full recovery. 

I spent 13 days in intensive care, 10 of which I was on a ventilator which helped me to breathe and without I would not have been able to do so. Much of the time I spent on the intensive care unit I was asleep or sedated which allowed me to not be in pain however it does mean that I cannot remember large parts of my time there. 

Despite this, one thing I know for sure is the nurses, doctors and physios at New Cross and West Park Hospital’s were amazing and every single one of them were special and were the main reason for my rapid recovery. 

Therefore I have decided that as a small thank you for their great work, I will be raising awareness for GBS and money for the Royal Wolverhampton NHS trust and will be running 10km 1 year on, September 4th 2023, from when I was admitted to the intensive care unit. This will be a huge achievement as at the age of 18 I have had to re-learn how to walk and independently do day to day tasks. Any donation would be greatly appreciated, if you are unable to donate sharing the post would be equally appreciated.