Old school friends’ act

FORMER students of Gillotts School in Henley have reunited to raise money for an old friend suffering from a mystery illness.

Harry Pells, 36, found himself suddenly unable to walk following a work trip to Ireland two years ago. As a result he has been unable to work.

Mr Pells, who grew up in Sonning Common and now lives in Brighton, has not been diagnosed or told the cause of his condition.

On Saturday, old school friends Tom Fiander, Rob Teasdale and Kam Dizaei ran the Henley river 10km and half marathon to raise funds for his treatment.

They were joined by his wife Barbara, 42, and fellow childhood friends, Jamie Duff and Eddie Whittle, who went to Langtree School in Woodcote, and George Fixsen, who attended Icknield Community College in Watlington.

They were cheered on by the couple’s son, Lucas, six.

The run was organised by Mr Fiander, who also attended Sonning Common Primary School with him.

Mr Pells said that it was the first time he had seen some of his friends since he developed his
condition.

He said: “We were all close but we don’t really see each other that often. Kam flew back from Northern Ireland to be there.”

Mr Pells’s GoFundMe page has raised £30,000 towards intensive neurophysiotherapy and a neuroinflammation specialist.

He said: “In the space of nine or 10 weeks it has completely changed my outlook on life.

“I was just sitting at home looking for help but now I have nine months of physio. Everyday looks different for me now. It has changed my life and Barbara’s and my son’s.”

Mr Pells, who previously worked in sales for Kimberly-Clark, first developed the condition in July 2021 while in Italy with the company.

He said: “I started to feel a numbness in my right leg. It soon turned into pins and needles and it wouldn’t go away.

“I got home and the tingling was still there. It then accelerated up my leg, stopping just below my knee. Soon after, exactly the same happened on the left side.”

When the pins and needles went away, Mr Pells was left with no feeling in either leg from the knee downwards. “The scariest part was probably the speed at which it all happened,” he said. “Within 48 hours I had gone from walking to not being able to feel my legs.”

He was sent to Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, but the doctors were unable to work out what was wrong.

Mr Pells said: “I was treated on the assumption that it was Guillain-Barré Syndrome. This involved having IVIg infusion, basically to reboot my immune system and stop it from attacking my nervous system.

“That word ‘assumption’ is key because from day one until now, nobody has ever been able to agree exactly what’s wrong.

“We’ve been down rabbit holes with everything from Lyme disease to myelitis and now, two years on, we’re no closer to having the real answer.”

While he still has power in his upper legs he now uses a wheelchair and suffers constant, excruciating pain, so relies on heavy medication just to get through each day.

“It’s something I hope no one else goes through,” he said. “Adjusting to my new reality was an enormous challenge and one that continues to take a heavy toll on my mental health.”

Mr Pells said his ultimate goal was to walk unaided again and that the money raised would enable him to see a neuroinflammation specialist who could bring that dream closer.

“They’d be able to look at my case as a whole, run their own scans and observations, rule out all the lingering dead ends and half-diagnoses and hopefully get to the bottom of things,” he said.

Setting up the fundraiser and appealing for help had been a “humbling” experience.

“It’s not something that I initially wanted to do but as time has gone on I have realised that it’s not just about me but about the people around me like my wife and son,” said Mr Pells. “It has been amazing to see people organising things — people that I have not seen since school or in years organising things off their own backs.

“I don’t have social media so people were sending me screenshots and showing me messages.”

Mr Pells first met Barbara while they were working together at Kimberly-Clark.

His wife said: “After finishing at the office, we would go to the gym together. Harry especially has always been very sporty.”

Mrs Pells, who is originally from Sicily, said she had initially struggled to get back into exercise after her husband’s downturn.

“I couldn’t go back to the gym as there were too many memories but the fundraiser gave me the motivation to race,” she said.

“It was my first race and I absolutely loved it. I had always liked running but I have never raced.”

Mr Pells, a Tottenham Hotspur fan, said one of his aims was to cheer on his team on his feet at their new stadium in north London

He said: “My dream is to take my place in the stands again, among all the other fans, and feel that delirious joy once more — up on my feet and unhindered by my health.”

To make a donation, visit his GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/df4c8148