Pedro's Story | GBS

It started suddenly. Vimal Pedro Patel began feeling unwell, and within 48 hours he was completely paralysed from the neck down. He sat down with us to share his story of recovery and running.

Pedro was admitted to intensive care and diagnosed with a particularly severe case of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) that left him weak, in pain, and unable to move anything except his eyes.

He would spend almost six months in ICU, followed by two months on a ward and a long period of rehabilitation. Altogether, he was in hospital for 18 months.

"Initially it felt like a nightmare. I couldn’t move any thing apart from my eyes and just felt lots of intense pain. I felt like giving up"

Because this all happened during COVID, there was very little on-hand support so he had to experience this time feeling isolated.

Pedro, in hospital

When the time came to be discharged, the medical team told me: “You might be paralysed for the rest of your life. Sometimes people make a recovery, but yours is severe.”

That was incredibly hard to hear. But deep down, he didn’t accept it.

I had this self belief in myself, it wasn’t how I chose my destiny to be and forward planned to recover and come out better than before.

When I was in the ICU, I made a commitment to the universe. This promise that if I was able to recover and have a second chance, I’d like to be a runner, or a sprinter.

I wanted to push through where professional advice said there'd be barriers, not just for myself but for anyone facing something similar.

After being discharged for a short while, he spoke to his professional at the hospital. They suggested that Pedro investigate the holistic side of healing. Telling him that while they can't advise anyone on that path, they knew his background and thought he should explore it.

So I did. I travelled to the Amazon Rainforest to visit friends and family. My elders are from the border of Colombia and Ecuador.

Whilst there he met with some traditional plant medicine healers through that community.

I went on this journey of healing, and within three weeks could feel my feet again. I went in there with a wheelchair, when I came out I could walk on crutches. For me that was an achievement.

When he came back he was encouraged to continue his journey, focusing on that promise to run. At first, he could barely walk let alone run, but Pedro trained patiently. He used exercise as both therapy and teacher, it helped him to understand his body and nervous system, through it he could tell what had been damaged through GBS, and what was healing.

Over time, his recovery improved, and eventually, he started running again and started entering competition's.

My most recent one was at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, where I achieved a new personal best, something I couldn’t have imagined a year ago when I still struggled to walk. I could barely run 40 seconds last October.

Pedro, at London Stadium

He's also qualified for National Games next year and is training hard while working full time for the NHS. He doesn't just want to compete though..

I'm aiming to reach semi-elite level at the age of 45!

A few months ago, Pedro had tests in hospital and was told he was around 95% recovered.

That news encouraged me to value myself in terms of living a healthy life. Through illness, a lot of things fine tuned me to become a better version of myself. I’m really grateful for everything and everyone around me, and not taking it for granted, because everything's a learning tool, everything is a point of growth. Mindset is very important, how we look at things, it can be our worst enemy or our best friend, but it’s important to look at things in a way that helps us to grow and be a better person in all things in your life that you want to accomplish.

I’ve found strength, purpose, and connection. Friends and supporters appeared at just the right times, each playing a part in the jigsaw of my recovery.

I feel a lot more fit now. My strength is totally different. I think my mindset has changed for the better. I try to be positive about things. Looking at things in a positive way. The more I do that, the more it reflects that, brings me adventures, helps humanity and people, it’s something I feel good about in my heart

GBS was a shock. It changed everything. But it also gave me a second chance to live more fully, to help others, and to honour the promise I made in that ICU bed.

Learn more about Pedro's story over at www.instagram.com/pedroletics/, we're so grateful for his time, perspective, and story.