27 November 2023 , 23:27
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Love Island star Jack Fowler struggles to walk in a new video clip after being left "completely paralysed" with a rare health condition.
The reality TV star, who rose to fame back in 2018, battled the serious complication in secret, undergoing dozens of tests at the hospital. He went through the scare in 2020 and was left unable to feel his leg and could no longer walk.
Updating fans on his condition, Jack shared a clip from a few years back when he was in and out of hospital. Writing alongside the upload, he said his condition got worse by the hour. "This was me a few years ago, with early signs of Transverse Myelitis."
Jack showed what his condition was like before (_jackfowler_ / Instagram)
He recently returned to TV on Love Island Games (Peacock)He continued: "An extremely rare condition which we think stemmed from me having Meningitis a few months before. I woke up one morning and couldn’t feel my leg. Around 5 days after this video, I was completely paralysed down my left side with complete numbness down my right side - caused by inflammation across my spinal cord, blocking my central nervous system. With getting worse each couple hours/days and unable to move, life became completely different."
He continued: "I needed help with everything. From cutting my food & eating to getting dressed & undressed. One of the most scariest times in my life. With weeks of tests and seeing the best doctors in the country, I still had no diagnoses due to the rarity of it. Which left me in the dark with what was happening to my body and also if I would ever recover.
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"Without going into loads and loads of details, I started treatment and made a 100% recovery that same year. It took time and patience to get back to normal but with the love and support of my family & friends, I did it. I was a very lucky case as some people never recover."
The NHS state that the cause of transverse myelitis is unknown and can affect anyone regardless of age or gender – with roughly 300 people per year affected. Symptoms can include back pain, weakness of both legs and bowel and bladder problems, while weakness in the arms can also occur – while breathing can be affected in severe cases.
The disorder is treated with steroids, and recovery can vary with some patients recovering completely, while some are left with "some motor weakness and/or with residual problems such as weakness in bowel and bladder function".
Someone else in and out of hospital is Jack's co-star Wes Nelson. He was seen by medics in May earlier this year after he lost vision and consciousness in a terrifying medical episode while at home. After telling fans he was on the mend, the 25-year-old tells The Mirror he's now even more concerned about the unknown issue after a similar incident less than two weeks ago.
"It was scary this time," he tells us in a sit-down interview ahead of getting back on stage for a music performance last Thursday. "I was fine and [my health] picked up, but recently it's happened again. I was very disorientated." He's now recovering from the ordeal but tells us doctors are "still unsure" about what exactly the issue is.