Fit, healthy and fresh out of education, Angus was ready to take on the world. That was, until the unexpected happened. Whilst backpacking with friends out in Bolivia he began to experience an unexplained tingling sensation. The sensation grew into severe pain forcing him to be looked after by his friend Joe in hospital. The following night, Halloween 2017, he was discharged from the hospital only to be admitted back in the following morning.
Back in the UK Angus’s parents were beginning to panic. With little they could do, they tried to contact the British Embassy in Bolivia but it was closed due to a national bank holiday.
Within three days of being readmitted, a paralysis that started in the feet and hands had spread up to his neck and had affected his vagus nerve increasing the risk of a fatal heart attack. Despite the reassurances given by the hospital’s doctors, Angus now knew he was staring into the face of death.
On the 3rd of November, just as he had accepted his fate, the consular from the British Embassy arrived at the hospital to transfer him to the best hospital in Bolivia. There he was diagnosed with severe Guillain Barre Syndrome, treated immediately and stabilised. For two weeks he experienced unlimited kindness from a Bolivian night nurse looking after him during the night and his mother who had flown out to look after him during the day.
He was medevacked home on the 14th November. In the Royal Surrey he experienced the NHS whilst it was under intense scrutiny from the press and found that despite the lack of staff, it was Heaven compared to Bolivia. Whilst travelling he had kept in touch with a childhood friend called Chuffy, she became a constant companion during his rehab and was the only person who could bring his spirits up when he was rock bottom. She is now his girlfriend.
After two more weeks at the Royal Surrey he was moved to a neuro-rehab centre in Woking where he worked for 7 months to mobilise his limbs then another 5 months as an outpatient from home.
In November 2018 he continued his travelling out in Australia with his girlfriend, Chuffy. He is now back home, and despite negative doctors’ predictions, is looking to make a full recovery.
In My Mind I Am Free 