A NORTH EAST man has told of his devastating struggle to walk again after falling ill while on holiday.
Former fireman Charles Jackson, 69, from Stainton, Middlesbrough, suffered gastric symptoms during a trip to Cyprus before being diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Mr Jackson and his wife Julie, 68, planned to explore the cultural sights of Northern Cyprus in December 2018, but he soon fell ill towards the end of the holiday.
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Following the couple’s return to the UK in December 2018, father-of-two Charles saw his GP.
From there, he underwent tests and was found to be suffering from both campylobacter and E. coli.
Shortly after, Mr Jackson began to lose the use of his legs and was admitted to James Cook Hospital where he was diagnosed with GBS – a rare condition that affects the nerves and can lead to permanent paralysis, pain, and difficulty swallowing and breathing. He spent 10 weeks being treated by medics.
He is now calling on travel operator RSD Travel Ltd to cooperate with him and his lawyers as they issue proceedings in the High Court.
He said he still finds it hard to walk, even for a short distance, without help so is now much more reliant on his scooter.
Mr Jackson said: “When I fell ill on holiday, Julie and I thought it might just be a 24-hour bug, but it continued even when I was home so I thought it best to see my GP.
"It was such a shock to find out after I had collapsed that I had campylobacter and E. coli, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.
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“I started to feel pins and needles in my feet and legs which worried me, and when I began to lose sensation completely I knew something was very wrong.
"It got to the point where my legs didn’t even feel like a part of me anymore.
“Being told I had Guillain-Barre syndrome was a huge blow as it was something that I had never even heard of before then.
“The whole experience has been a complete nightmare and, even more than three years on, what happened continues to have a huge impact on me.
"I’ve spent the last few years working hard to improve the movement in my legs, but there’s a long way to go.
“We still don’t have the answers as to how this happened to me, so we have now had to take legal action.
"This is a path we really didn’t want to take, but we need to know how this terrible illness developed. We also hope that it might prevent others from suffering like I have.”
RSD Travel Ltd was contacted for comment but no response was received at time of publication.
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