Your Stories

Zoe Ogden Manchester 10K

Amy Pierce tells us why her friend Zoe Ogden decided to run the Manchester 10K for GAIN. “John, my Dad was struck down with Guillain-Barre syndrome in November 2010. He was 65, living life to the full looking forward to retirement with his wife, my Mum. But after...

Sailors Three in fundraising marathon

When Royal Navy Petty Officer Kevin Perrett casually announced his intention to run the South Downs Half Marathon he wasn’t expecting to generate much interest from his two colleagues, AB Tony Gaskins and AB Pardraic Graham. Kevin, an experienced runner, is in charge...

The Secret Diary of Margaret Pearse Aged 82 1/2

In October 2009 at the age of 82, I was on holiday in Sussex with my son, Clive, and daughter, Lulu, when I experienced very strong tingling in both hands, and the next morning when I got out of bed my left leg was completely numb and useless. I was taken by ambulance...

When life went limp

Adam Pownall explains life with GBS. Positivity: being able to stay positive even when you have a real good reason to be negative. Prior to March 2009 I was always the type to describe myself as a positive person, I liked to think that I strolled through life oozing...

Getting Better Slowly

Guillain-Barre Syndrome takes centre stage It is seven years since Adam Pownall was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, then being 26 years old; he was a healthy, fit and active young man. Forging himself a career in the arts he was working hard as a performer,...

Tesni Foster and Joe Sims – 3 Peaks Challenge

Joe Sims and his sister, Tesni Foster successfully took on The 3 Peaks Challenge in October to raise money for GAIN. This entailed starting early in the morning and climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland, then driving to the Lake District and climbing Scafell Pike (at night...

Thames Challenge Path

On March 6th 2015 our mother, Yvonne Smith was admitted to hospital with a very rare condition called Guillain- Barre syndrome. Within a few days it had moved to her lungs, she was unable to breathe on her own and was moved to ICU (intensive care) where she was...

Year long series of fundraising events

My name is Karrie and I’m a 22 year old Mental Health Nursing student and in November 2013 I started to develop symptoms of GBS. I was admitted to hospital and became paralysed from the chest downwards. I had to have an NG tube fitted and also a pacemaker to control...

Susanna Smith – Our Story

Our story began in December when I’d finished a night shift as a nurse at the Christie Hospital in Manchester. I was relaxing looking at Facebook and it suggested I should be friends with a guy called Jezz Smith because we had some mutual friends. His picture was him...