Dad paralysed from the face down walks again thanks to NUH rehab team | Latest news

A Nottingham mechanic who was paralysed from the face down and had to sleep with his eyes open for three weeks has thanked the rehab team at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) who taught him to walk again.

Luke Pickering, now 31, first knew something was wrong when he woke up with pins and needles in his hands and toes. A week later his whole body was paralysed.

Thanks to the incredible work of staff across NUH, particularly the team at Linden Lodge, Luke survived, learned to walk again, and was eventually able to go home to his partner and two children. He is even back at work as a mechanic.

Luke has also become a patient ambassador for the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), a brand new 70-bed rehab facility which aims to transform rehabilitation in the UK and is due to open to its first patients later this year.

The £105million NRC programme is part of the New Hospital Programme and the facility will be run and staffed by NUH. In his voluntary ambassador role, Luke will support other patients going through similar rehabilitation.

Luke explained that initially he thought nothing of having pins and needles in his hands and went to work as normal. The next day when the sensation spread to his toes, he went to his local GP who booked him in for blood tests, but things took a turn for the worse.

Luke said: “I was carrying my eldest down the stairs and suddenly felt like I was going to collapse, I felt so weak.

 “I wanted to go to work as normal but my partner Alix insisted that we go to A&E at Kingsmill Hospital. I was diagnosed there with Guillain-Barre Syndrome and admitted to hospital.”

Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a rare condition where the immune system begins to attack the nervous system and it is normally triggered by a virus infection. It is treated through immunotherapy including intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and plasma exchange.

Luke said: “I thought I would just be there for a day or so, but within a few days I was paralysed from the head down.

“Even my face was paralysed so I had to sleep with my eyes open for three weeks.

“They started me on IVIG, but I kept going downhill so they decided to transfer me to the Intensive Care Unit at NUH’s City Hospital. 

“There were times where I prepared myself to say my goodbyes.”

Thankfully the third round of IVIG and a blood plasma transfusion worked. Luke spent time on the Renal Ward at City Hospital, D11 Neuro Ward at QMC, and was delighted when he was approved to go to the Linden Lodge rehabilitation unit just before Christmas.

He explained: “That’s what I had been praying for. I knew I needed physiotherapy, and I needed to be moving, so going to Linden Lodge was my Christmas present. They even let me go home for a couple of hours in my wheelchair on Christmas Day.”

Luke began his road to recovery with the help of the clinicians and therapists at Linden Lodge including Speech and Language Therapists to enable him to regain the use of his facial muscles, and the physiotherapists who taught him to walk again.

He added: “We said it was going to be a race between me and my baby daughter as to who would walk first!

“At the first session Volker the physiotherapist picked me up and got me to stand on his feet and was moving me around. It kept my morale up; the whole team got me through it.

“They knew I was determined to get back to my family and my work. I kept doing my own exercises in my room and kept pushing myself. 

“I went from a wheelchair to crutches, and then to one crutch, and then none.”

Luke was discharged from Linden Lodge in February 2024, 94 days after first going into A&E. He returned to his home in Annesley to be with his partner Alix, his son Lucas (now three) and daughter Ivy (now almost two years old)

A year after coming home, Luke is living an almost normal life again, including being back fixing cars and tractors in his job as a mechanic. 
Luke said: “My feet aren’t fully there yet but I’m grateful to be back to myself again. It doesn’t stop me from doing anything. Whatever I could do before, I can do now, I just appreciate it more.

“I’m so grateful for all the NHS teams who have helped me. It’s hard to explain how much they have done for me – they gave me my independence back and made me ‘me’ again. I’ll never forget that.”

In December, Alix’s sister Rhiannon Simpson completed the Lanzarote Half Marathon to raise £1,795 for Nottingham Hospitals Charity to thank the teams who cared for Luke.

She said: “This was just a small way to say thank you to the amazing staff who worked tirelessly with Luke, helping him regain the ability to walk after a life-changing event.

“Over the course of 12 weeks, they not only supported his physical recovery, but gave hope back to our entire family.

“When he returned home, it felt like a miracle—and we will forever be grateful to everyone at Linden Lodge for the strength, compassion, and care they gave us during such a difficult time.”

More information about the National Rehabilitation Centre is available on our website: Home - National Rehabilitation Centre

Find out more about Nottingham Hospitals Charity on their website: Homepage | Nottingham Hospitals Charity