On Saturday the 5 February 2022 my life came to a complete stop for me and my family. I woke up and was unable to stand, I fell to the ground and rang 111. Our family doctor came out to us and decided that we should call 999 as I was so unwell. I arrived at hospital via ambulance in 20 minutes and deteriorated over night losing the use of my arms and became unable to swallow. At 10 am on the 6 of February I was sedated and taken to ICU where they took over my breathing and nursed me in bed for approximately 6 weeks. During this time my sister was by my side every day helping me communicate as I was unable to speak due to the tube that was helping me breathe.

During this time, I suffered from multiple complications such as pneumonia, overactive thyroid, I was reliant on a pacemaker due to an irregular heartbeat and extreme anxiety caused by sudden illness. We had multiple occasions in which my family were told to prepare for the worst. After lots of tests I was given a diagnosis of Guillian Barre Syndrome which is a very rare and serious condition where your immune system attacks the nerves. I was essentially fully paralysed and completely reliant on specialist around the clock care at Airedale hospitals intensive care unit. I stayed here for a further 4 months. I cannot thank the whole team on ICU enough for guiding me through some of the darkest days for me and my family and caring for me with such compassion.

After specialist treatment and nerve conduction studies things started to slowly improve and eventually I was stable enough to have my tracheostomy removed and was able to breathe for myself again, the speech and language therapists helped me regain my voice and slowly I began to regain my ability to swallow. I no longer required the support on ICU and would move to ward 5 to begin my rehab journey.

The physiotherapists and occupational therapists on ward 5 worked together to help me learn how to hold my head up and sit, initially I needed 5 people to help with this but after a few months and some practice I am able to sit comfortably by myself and has meant I have found some freedom and I am able to leave the ward for short periods with family in a wheelchair which I can now propel myself. My therapy includes weekly trips to the hydro pool at Airedale which I have been able to walk for the first time with assistance, this felt amazing.

Throughout this time my family have had to learn to live and adapt in a different way since my diagnosis. My kids have had to grow up quicker as I haven't been able to support and be around for them. My wife has been by my side throughout, looking after our four children at home whilst always making sure she travels by bus twice a day to support me whilst Im here.

This has been and still is, a physical and emotional journey. I am having to adapt to a different way of living. I have come a long way but still have a long way to go. With people's prayers, the will of Allah and determination, hopefully my condition will improve.

Everything happens for a reason; these are tests in life. Getting through the dark times when you're on your own. Your mental health is affected as well as your physical presence.

By sharing my journey, I hope I can help people understand this condition more and I'd like to give as much support mentally. I'd like to come back to the unit and talk about my experience to others who go through this.

My goal during my time here on ward 5 is to regain as much independence as possible, for things we all take for granted such as feeding myself, washing myself and even just being able to roll over in bed without asking for help. Ultimately, I want to return back to my life before all this happened but know that I have more of this journey to go yet.

I want to raise funds to give something back to those who have suffered life changing diagnosis like myself and are being supported by the wonderful teams at Airedale. I hope the money would go towards new specialist equipment to support those who are most vulnerable.

No matter how many times I say thank you or how much money gets raised, nothing I do will show enough appreciation to the whole group of multi-disciplinary team. They have supported my recovery immensely; God couldnt have chosen a better bunch of people to help and support me through this journey.

I have completed the equivalent distance up Mount Everest quicker than I'd imagined, so I've decided to continue the triathlon challenge until I'm discharged from Airedale Hospital!