Dad lucky to be alive after chicken bhuna left him paralysed

A dad of two has revealed he was almost killed after eating what he believes was a dodgy curry, having been left paralysed by a 'scary’ illness.

David Miller, 43, tucked into his usual chicken bhuna curry from his favourite Indian takeaway in London.

However, he was later struck down with severe food poisoning, before developing an auto-immune disorder that caused him to lose the use of his limbs.

The web contractor, who is now based in Welbourn in Lincolnshire, found he was unable to breathe properly, and couldn’t walk or see clearly.

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He then suffered from a stomach bug for two months, and started feeling tingling in his hands and feet a couple of months after that.

This lead to near-full paralysis, meaning he had to spend several months in hospital and needed a wheelchair to get around.

He said: "It was pretty scary. Obviously we didn't go back to that restaurant again.

"It was a steep decline - I went from having tingling and pins and needles in my hands and feet to needing a wheelchair to get into hospital a week later.

"Some people die from this syndrome. It works its way from the extremities through your core and can stop your breathing.

"Imagine looking at your body and trying to make it move and it doesn't."

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Miller was eventually diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a condition caused when the immune system is low that can lead to life-long problems.

After first falling ill in 2016, he believes his issues all stem from the food poisoning he thinks he caught from the curry, which lasted a week and led to him suffering painful gastroenteritis for two months.

This is because the food poisoning and stomach bug that followed meant his immune system was compromised.

He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome a week later, and was admitted to hospital in January 2017 – having been put into intensive care after his breathing became an issue.

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Miller, who is dad to seven-year-old Elise and three-year-old Eva, continued: "I was worried about my breathing, I could tell I wasn't breathing strongly.

"I was never fully paralysed, I still had some movement in my hips but not enough to even roll over in bed with."

Miller remembers now being able to watch football as the nerve damage affected his ability to focus his eyes, while his daughter Elise – who was 18 months at the time – didn't recognise him in the hospital bed.

"Elise very clearly didn't want to be there,” he said.

“It was upsetting, certainly odd."

David has thankfully since made a full recovery, with no sign of any lasting side effects.

He said: "It does make you think about food and the knock-on effect.

"It was a year of my life that it affected. My eating habits haven’t really changed, but it does make you think."

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He is now planning to run the London marathon this April, saying: "It makes you think a little bit more about life and focus on the now.

"I've been doing that more recently. I've taken more time off work and being ill was definitely a contributing factor in that.

"With the marathon I'm raising money for the John Muir Trust.

"I've been worrying about the future more recently and the money raised will go to protecting our forests."