An Aberdeenshire man who was stricken by a rare flesh-eating bacteria has rallied and discovered a love for running.
After battling with necrotizing fasciitis, Robin Grant has developed a passion for exploring the great outdoors and will compete in the Baxters River Ness 10k in September.
It was an ordinary day at work in August 2014 for the 43-year-old Scot – originally from Old Rayne in Aberdeenshire and now living in Inverness – when he began to notice the first symptoms of the illness.
He said: “I suddenly felt an intense pain in my arm. It felt like I had overstretched and trapped a nerve in my shoulder – only multiplied by a hundred. But after about half an hour, the pain went away and I thought I was okay.”
However, that was only the start of his problems. As he added: “The pain came back and it was excruciating. I walked up to casualty and was given some painkillers.
“The next day, I visited the GP who gave me some more painkillers. I had to register, but could barely lift my arm due to the pain and they had to fill in the forms for me.
“I got progressively worse, to the point where I couldn’t get to the end of the road without feeling violently sick.”
Struggling on his own, Mr Grant’s father took him to the family home in Aberdeenshire to offer some support. But over the weekend, his condition deteriorated.
He said: “I was getting worse and worse, so my dad took me to see his GP in Insch. He took one look at me and asked, ‘Have you got transport or do you need me to call an ambulance?'”
He was rushed to A&E in Aberdeen where, after just four hours, he was taken into surgery. He was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis – a rare condition that is known as a flesh-eating bacteria. The illness causes tissue death in affected areas, resulting in incredible pain.
As he explained: “When I came out of surgery, I was in intensive care for about two weeks and on a ventilator. The only way to treat the bug is to cut it out – the flesh is essentially dead – so I also required plastic surgery.”
Frustrated by the constraints of his hospital bed, Robin’s thoughts turned to an old hobby – running. But he couldn’t get back on course without making a big effort.
As he added: “I had to develop a different style of running. My right side was hit hard by the bug – I lost my shoulder muscles and part of my bicep – so it really affected my balance. I couldn’t swing my right arm, and I still can’t lift it properly to this day.
“I noticed I had begun to compensate with the left side of my body, but I actually feel like I am running better now than I ever did before.”
He is now committed to participating in the Loch Ness race on September 24. As he said: “The course is great, and the energy around the whole event is really uplifting.”