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So, back in the spring of 2012, my brother Denis, who virtually lived and breathed Tennis, developed a potentially life threatening illness, Guillain-Barre syndrome (he is pictured above looking very serious at one of the many Wimbledon finals he has watched). Prior to developing the illness, he had been captain of his University Tennis team, had qualified as a Tennis coach and competed in club level tennis tournaments. He was therefore a very healthy young man and certainly had no cause to develop such a decapacitating illness.

Guillain-Barre can be hard to diagnose making it all the more traumatic and confusing. Tests that Stoke Mandeville can organise include nerve tests and a spinal taps. The treatment that Stoke Mandeville can fortunately offer to help symptoms include tailored medicines or a procedure called plasma exchange. Importantly, they have a unit that has 12 beds, with nursing staff that can attend to patients around the clock and offer a state of the art life support respiratory machine, which kept Denis in check when most of his muscle groups ceased to work.

Guillain-Barre syndrome is a very rare disorder that causes your immune system to attack your peripheral nervous system (PNS). The PNS nerves connect your brain and spinal cord with the rest of your body. Damage to these nerves makes it hard for them to transmit signals. As a result, your muscles have trouble responding to your brain.

At Den's lowest point, he could basically only move his hand to point to letters on a card to communicate. The syndrome had almost fully paralyzed him.

No one knows what causes the syndrome. Sometimes it is triggered by an infection, surgery, or a vaccination. In his case, we could not pin point anything in line with that theory, apart from an infection that may have derived from a mild case of food poisoning.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to those who worked in the Critical Care Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and hospitals around the country. I watched on as they facilitated amazing care for Denis around the clock.

I would like to raise money to help ensure that this facility, so close to where we live, stays up to scratch and in part to help assist the great staff they have that work in that unit. If you ever have a family member that is admitted to a Critical Care Unit, you will understand the importance of what that unit can do for that family member and how important funding therefore is. Please donate as much as you can!

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