Pharmacist who overcame paralysis to run marathon

A man who recovered after being paralysed said watching a marathon while in hospital had motivated him to take up the challenge.

Mark Learmouth, 34, an advanced pharmacist practitioner at Sunderland Royal Hospital, became seriously ill last year with Guillian-Barre syndrome, a condition in which the body's immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system.

Mr Learmouth, from Gateshead, said the condition had "completely" paralysed him and he had "almost died on two occasions".

While recovering in hospital, he watched the London Marathon and decided he would train for the event on his road to recovery.

After waking up from an induced coma, Mr Learmouth began daily physiotherapy and encouraged students to come and work with him in their free time.

He said he had walked around the hospital "as much as he could" to help with his recovery and had taken part in walking football as he started to improve.

After three months, he was discharged from hospital.

Six months after he became ill, Mr Learmouth was well enough for a phased return to work.

He said alongside medical treatment, his "positivity" and "drive and determination to continue to do the work" had allowed him to recover "as fast as possible".

A year on from his hospital stay, Mr Learmouth will run the event in April and raise money for the University of Sunderland's Futures Fund which supports young students.

He graduated from the university in 2014 and returned to study for his master's degree in clinical pharmacy, inspired by his mum Joy, who also qualified as a pharmacist at Sunderland in 1979.

"As part of my recovery and to get back to the level I was at, I'm running the London Marathon as kind of a way to say I've fully recovered," he said.

"I want to do this for my own recovery by helping raising money. I'm quite lucky to be here."

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