A Worcester man left unable to walk by a rare condition says he has made one of the fastest recoveries his doctors have ever seen.

Richard Portman was struck down by rare Guillain-Barré syndrome at the start of December and spent five days in a medically-induced coma after being rushed to intensive care.

He has since been discharged from hospital and says he is taking things a day at a time as he recovers at home.

Guillain-Barré syndrome is an autoimmune disorder that causes a person’s immune system to attack their nerves, leading to extreme muscle weakness and paralysis.

Mr Portman said one evening he felt a weakness in his hands, while his legs felt heavy.

“It was really odd but I thought if I could have a good sleep, I’d be alright in the morning,” he said.

“But when I woke up the next day, it had spread up my legs. It was really weird, something wasn’t right.”

After calling NHS111, Mr Portman was referred to a doctor and soon found himself in an ambulance on the way to hospital. 

“Researching it, other people can have weakness in their hand for a few weeks before it progresses,” he said. “It’s best to get early treatment so anyone experiencing something like this should get it checked out as soon as possible.

“I was forced into having early treatment because it happened so quickly to me - I went from nothing to being blue lighted into hospital.”

Mr Portman was discharged a week ago and said despite suffering from fatigue, his recovery is going well.

“Obviously it’s much more comfortable being back in my own surroundings,” he said.

“Mentally it’s a lot better, I was starting to find it difficult being in hospital. I’ve been recovering well, just carrying on with my programme of exercises and doing a little better every day.

“I can get around more now, I can walk around with sticks. The doctors say it’s one of the fastest recoveries they’ve ever seen. It’s probably a combination of being so active before and how hard I’ve been working. I’m not the type of person to just sit around.”

A GoFundMe page set up to help ease the financial burden while Mr Portman is unable to work has raised more than £5,000.

“It’s been amazing, the response from everyone. We put a target of £1,000 on the GoFundMe and thought that was a bit optimistic, but it’s flown past that and we’re really grateful.”

Mr Portman also thanked the intensive care team at Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital and the community at Defence Labs, the martial arts academy he runs in Worcester.

“That’s my identity, my life, it’s what I do,” he said about Defence Labs. “When I was lying there in hospital I started to wonder what my life was going to be like and whether I’d ever be able to go back to doing what I did before. Your mind starts to wander.

“They’ve been covering my sessions there and I’m hoping that in the next couple of weeks I’ll be able to pop along and say hello. Right now, I’m taking each day as it comes.”