A father of two who assumed a tingling sensation in his hands was just pins and needles woke up paralysed a few days later – and couldn’t even close his eyes for weeks.
Luke Pickering, a mechanic from Nottingham, went to work as normal when he first noticed the strange sensation in his hands.
The next day, it had progressed to his toes, and despite trying to carry on as normal, he soon took a turn for the worse.
“I was carrying my eldest down the stairs and I just felt weak, and I thought I was going to drop him,” Mr Pickering told The Independent.
He insisted that he was still able to go to work, but his partner Alix, 31, realised he wasn’t well and took him to A&E, where he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) – a rare condition where the immune system begins to attack the nervous system.
From that moment in November 2023, Mr Pickering did not return home for another 94 days.
“I thought I’d be coming back out soon, but as the week progressed, I just got weaker and weaker. I went from using crutches to being put into a full hoist. I couldn’t do anything for myself,” he said.
“I was paralysed from the head down. Even my face was paralysed, so I had to sleep with my eyes open for three weeks.”
Normally triggered by a virus infection, the condition usually causes tingling, numbness, or pins and needles in the arms and legs before the symptoms spread to other parts of the body, causing muscle weakness.
However, Mr Pickering did not recall having any colds, fevers or stomach bugs before his symptoms hit.
The condition, which affects around 1,300 people in the UK a year, is treated through immunotherapy, including intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and plasma exchange.
Although Mr Pickering had IVIG, his condition continued to deteriorate, so doctors decided to transfer him to the intensive care unit at Nottingham City Hospital.
“I could feel myself getting worse. I prepared myself to say my goodbyes to my family, but I wasn’t willing to say it. I just said ‘see you later,’” he added.
Mr Pickering was visited by his partner, their two-year-old son and their newborn baby every day and was determined to get better for them.
“I was really hard on myself at the time, but the only way I was going to be happy was by getting home. I was determined to get out and walk again,” he said.
The third round of IVIG and a blood plasma transfusion worked, allowing Mr Pickering to start recovery at the Linden Lodge rehabilitation unit in Nottingham just before Christmas. There, he had speech and language therapy and learnt how to walk again.
Recalling feeling “terrified” to stand and walk again, he said: “I knew my body wasn’t ready for it, but you just have to keep doing it.”
Eventually, in February 2024, Mr Pickering learnt to walk again; now, a year after coming home, he is living an almost normal life again, including being back at work fixing cars and tractors.
Although he still can’t feel his toes, Mr Pickering said he is grateful for the treatment he received.
However, the small risk of his condition relapsing still hangs over him.
“If I wake up in the middle of the night with pins and needles, that’s it. I’m awake all night because I think it’s happening again,” he explained.
Following his recovery, Mr Pickering has also become a patient ambassador for the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), a brand new 70-bed rehab facility.
In his voluntary ambassador role, Mr Pickering will support other patients going through similar rehabilitation.
Talking about his role at the centre, he said: “I just wanted to give back. When I was going through it, I wanted someone with a positive outcome to just talk to.”
