A man left paralysed after catching a cold has returned to work after a gruelling 14-month battle back to health.
And doctors have also given Derek Ledingham the news he feared he would never hear – that he can get back behind the wheel of his car.
This time last year the senior graphic designer had just been admitted to Woodend Hospital’s neuro-rehabilitation unit after spending nearly two months in intensive care at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
He was unable to carry out even the simplest tasks after an extremely rare illness triggered by a common cold left him paralysed from the neck down.
The 42-year-old from Portlethen Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition which affects just 1,200 people in the UK every year and attacks the body’s peripheral nervous system.
In Mr Ledingham’s case, it was a common cold which he could not shake off that led to his ordeal.
The Dons fanatic – who is originally from Torry in Aberdeen – woke up one Monday morning in March last year after playing in goal for Shirlaws FC unable to move his arms.
He was taken to ARI, where his condition rapidly deteriorated and he became paralysed.
He said last night: “This time last year I had moved to Woodend and was starting to get my physiotherapy every day.
“I was still pretty much paralysed.
“I was still getting hoisted out of bed into my wheelchair. I was still being peg-fed. The difference has been massive.”
Mr Ledingham has now reached several significant milestones in his recovery – including returning to a warm welcome at his Tag Worldwide office in Union Plaza this week.
He said: “I am only doing two half days a week for the next two months and my first day back was Tuesday. It was just good to get back in and get a feel for it again, and as time goes by I’ll just get back up to speed with what is going on.
“It was like the last major step for me to get back to some sort of normality, and it is good to go back into that sort of environment and see people you get on with and work with to see how they have been.”
He was assessed by doctors at the Astley Ainslie Hospital in Edinburgh two weeks ago.
They asked him to drive around the capital before giving the all-clear for him to get back on the road.
Mr Ledingham said: “I spoke to the DVLA at the end of last week and they said if the doctors say you are fine to drive, then drive.”
He also took his first trip abroad since his ordeal, travelling to Bremen in Germany, with friends for a weekend away.
Though he still walks with an aid, every day Mr Ledingham feels he is “slowly but surely” getting closer to his former level of fitness, though control of his fingers and pain in his back continue to be a problem.
He added: “There are still difficult areas. It is more my fingers and my back, but even that has improved. I have got a raft of exercises which I do every day.
“It is a slow process. I was told that to start with. Slowly but surely it is coming. I can see a difference every few weeks. I can move my hand or make a fist better.
“Things like hanging my washing out with a clothes peg – before I wouldn’t have the strength to close my fingers but now I can. I am getting close, but I can’t see I’ll get back to where I was.”
He added: “Working with a keyboard and a mouse that will get my fingers up to speed. The more I do work the more I want to get back into the swing of things.”
Mr Ledingham was allowed to leave hospital and return to his Portlethen home in December.