He desires to get his health ranges again up (Picture: PA Actual Life)
A duathlete who was rushed to hospital with mind irritation so extreme he described it as feeling like there was “an alien attempting to get out” of his head has opened up about what it was prefer to obtain his uncommon analysis of tick-borne encephalitis. Invoice Lankford, 62, a retired scientist dwelling in Cambridge, stated his sudden cold-like signs of fatigue, muscle ache and fever started after he accomplished a 50km ultra-distance swim-run throughout Scandinavia along with his spouse, Christina Lankford, 60, in August 2025.
After roughly every week, Invoice stated he appeared to “really feel a bit higher” earlier than he began experiencing complications and flu-like signs, main him to take a Covid-19 take a look at that returned a damaging end result. Invoice stated he visited his GP inside two and a half weeks owing to “fairly dangerous complications”, however they have been unable to account for his signs.
The next day, Invoice made his technique to hospital, the place medical doctors recommended the trigger may be tick-borne Lyme illness. He was prescribed antibiotics and instructed he “must be feeling higher” inside days.
Nonetheless, Invoice described the following three days as ones for which “there aren’t any phrases within the English language to explain how painful” they have been, as he endured crippling complications, disrupted sleep, issues with stability, blackouts, and sensitivity to “flickering lights and fast-moving pictures”. He returned to hospital and underwent what he described as “lots of” of exams — together with cerebrospinal fluid sampling — earlier than receiving a analysis of tick-borne encephalitis in September 2025, on the age of 61.
Invoice stated: “It is fairly troublesome for medical workers to diagnose. I used to be mainly examined for every thing from Aids to Zika… it is solely once they did a spinal faucet of the cerebrospinal fluid that they discovered the virus.
“However because of the sickness and mind stress, I do not keep in mind any of the discussions in regards to the analysis whereas within the hospital. I feel for anybody who’s going by means of something to do with encephalitis, you do not take all of it in.”
Invoice and Christina after a swim-run (Picture: PA Actual Life)
Tick-borne encephalitis is a viral an infection transmitted by means of tick bites that may set off flu-like signs, lack of consciousness, extreme headache, reminiscence difficulties, emotional or behavioural adjustments and seizures, in line with Encephalitis Worldwide. Previous to his analysis, Invoice described himself as being in “excellent form” and having fun with a “completely happy and wholesome life” alongside his spouse Christina, significantly for the reason that couple started participating in swim-run occasions from 2016 onwards.
Invoice defined that every race concerned swimming and working throughout archipelagos or by means of lake districts whereas carrying a “wetsuit and footwear” all through. In August 2025, the pair flew to Stockholm and accomplished a number of apply swim-runs with buddies forward of the principle occasion on August 9 on the Aland archipelago, located midway between Sweden and Finland.
Invoice stated: “You are working by means of the forests, cliffs and seashores and swimming throughout the bays and in between the islands. It was about 10km of swimming and simply over 40km of working.”
Regardless of the occasion being “fairly hardcore”, Invoice maintained a “regular tempo” and felt “actually good” from begin to end, finishing the course inside 11 hours. The couple then took time to unwind afterwards, having fun with tubs and saunas in addition to tenting and sightseeing, throughout which Invoice seen what he believed to be purple midge and mosquito bites on his physique.
In line with the NHS, tick bites aren’t often painful, however they’ll trigger a purple lump to develop, in addition to swelling, itchiness, blistering and bruising. It is very important take away ticks rapidly and thoroughly with tweezers to softly grip it as near the pores and skin as attainable and pull steadily away with out crushing it.
Invoice did his first swim-run since his analysis on the weekend (Picture: PA Actual Life)
It was in the course of the journey again to the UK, roughly 5 days after finishing the race, that Invoice recalled starting to expertise what he believed was a “chilly approaching”, with signs together with fatigue, muscle ache and fever.
He stated: “I fully rationalised it, with the entire transport we took and other people from totally different international locations. After all I’d get a chilly as a result of my immune system might be a bit depressed from the occasion.”
After roughly every week, Invoice seen his signs starting to ease, just for a persistent headache and flu-like signs to take maintain. By the point he consulted a physician round two-and-a-half weeks after first falling unwell, Invoice stated his headache had deteriorated, but his GP was unable to determine the trigger and suggested him to watch his situation and attend hospital ought to it fail to enhance.
This led to Invoice being prescribed antibiotics for suspected Lyme illness, however after simply three days of therapy, his debilitating complications intensified dramatically.
Invoice stated: “Now my headache is like an alien attempting to get out of my head. There aren’t any phrases within the English language to explain how painful it’s.”
Regardless of taking paracetamol and ibuprofen, Invoice discovered himself solely capable of sleep in 20-minute intervals because of the severity of his ache. He additionally skilled issues along with his stability and coordination, an incapacity to raise his toes correctly, a heightened sensitivity to brilliant lights and shifting pictures, and what he described as “momentary blackouts”.
He made his technique to A&E by taxi, the place he was admitted and positioned on an IV drip of “antivirals, antifungals and antibacterials”. Over the course of three days, Invoice underwent a battery of exams starting from “Aids to Zika”, but medical doctors initially had “no thought” what was improper, as tick-borne encephalitis is considered uncommon within the UK, in line with Encephalitis Worldwide.
Bearing in mind his latest travels to Scandinavia, medical workers carried out cerebrospinal fluid sampling, which confirmed the analysis. Invoice remained in hospital for every week, throughout which the IV therapy started to point out indicators of enchancment, although his restoration proved to be a prolonged course of.
Invoice stated: “With out anybody at residence, I could not have sorted myself. It is a weird factor the place you come out of hospital in a wheelchair after which go to your mattress and simply powerful it out.”
In line with the UK Authorities, there isn’t any particular therapy for tick-borne encephalitis, although a preventative vaccine does exist. Invoice urged “anybody who’s energetic” in tick-prone areas to “contemplate” getting vaccinated.
Invoice was identified with tick-borne encephalitis at 61 (Picture: PA Actual Life)
Within the quick aftermath of his analysis, Invoice revealed he couldn’t “stroll greater than 500 metres” at a time and was compelled to depend on a strolling stick owing to issues with stability and coordination.
He has additionally endured spontaneous muscle tremors, difficulties with spatial consciousness, nightmares, continual fatigue, emotion regulation points, anxiousness, and short-term reminiscence loss. 9 months on from his analysis, Invoice stated he has steadily rebuilt his bodily health by incrementally extending his canine walks, embarking on brief bicycle rides, and taking over pilates.
This previous weekend, he managed to finish his first swim-run occasion since contracting tick-borne encephalitis — a gruelling 22km course in Dorset.
Reflecting on the progress he has made, Invoice stated: “When it comes to bodily fortitude, I am fairly proud. I might by no means be capable of do the lengthy distance occasions that we did – that is clearly off the desk – however I can do a lot shorter occasions. It isn’t excellent, however I am actually happy with that.”
For extra details about Encephalitis Worldwide, go to its web site.
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