Your Stories
Sally Haycock Ironman Staffordshire 70.3
Having been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome in 2013, resulting in paralysis and hospitalisation for 3 months, I was fortunate enough to overcome this debilitating illness. On discharge from hospital I spent the next 3 months in a wheelchair and then over the...
Sally has Hot Flush for GAIN
On 22nd February 2014 we held a fundraising evening for GAIN Charity. I was diagnosed in January 2013 with GBS and because I am well on my road to recovery I decided that I wanted to give something back to the charity that had helped me and my family through some...
Repairing Spaghetti Junction
I’ve never been much of a night owl, and have always needed my sleep. Even as a child I would often ask to go to bed early. Since I became ill my need for sleep has gone off the richter scale! On a weekend if I don’t set an alarm, I can easily sleep for twelve to...
Marathon Marvels
This year, we were lucky enough to have no fewer than four people running for GAIN in the Virgin Money London Marathon! A massive thank you for doing a phenomenal job, raising well in excess of £12,000 including Gift Aid in total! Oliver Bray GAIN silver bond runner,...
Kuala Lumpur to Queen Square
5 years on from Guillain-Barré syndrome Malcolm Hanney OBE shares his GBS journey, taking us from Kuala Lumpur to Queen Square and back again It was Christmas 2012 and I had just completed the first semester of a Masters’ course in South East Asian Studies at the...
Jumping from 15000 feet
19th September was a beautiful sunny day! Unfortunately I was facing my fears! I did a skydive at 15000 feet at my local skydiving centre in Durham. It was surreal doing something which was utterly terrifying but amazing at the same time! I wanted to do something to...
Jamie Calder Smith’s Fundraising
On the 9th of February this year, my incredible mother was admitted to Salisbury Hospital having begun to lose sensation in her feet. Later that day she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). It is a terrifying condition, involving progressive paralysis of...
Full circle: Volunteering for GAIN
I had Guillain-Barre Syndrome, the AMAN version, in 2009 and was in 3 hospitals for 4 and a half months in total, followed by 1 and a half years of physiotherapy and off work for 20 months in all. I became a volunteer for GAIN prior to going back to work and have been...
Finding me again
Kate France shares her experience of getting her life back after a diagnosis of GBS in 2013, followed by a further diagnosis of CIDP when the symptoms returned two years later. Like most people reading this magazine, I have a significant date. Actually, I have two,...