Darren Fields will never forget the day his consultant told him he had the wrong illness. “What he actually meant was that multiple sclerosis (MS) was the wrong illness to have in the UK, because it is not a priority,” says Darren, who discovered later that a treatment feted for halting the disease was out of reach, because he had to trial other treatments first.

Darren, 48, always knew that developing MS was a possibility as his mother and sister are sufferers. Because of his awareness of the condition, he was immediately able to identify the signs others would miss – so, when he woke up one morning to find his legs had gone hard, he knew what was happening.

MS is an autoimmune condition that causes faulty immune cells to attack the nerves in the brain and/or spinal cord. It causes symptoms that include problems with vision, balance and co-ordination, as well as muscle stiffness, and there is currently no cure.

Once diagnosed with MS, Darren was treated with disease modifying therapies (DMT), but the side effect of one caused liver problems, and another made him vulnerable to a deadly brain infection. This drug was also prescribed for a two-year period by doctors who told him taking it was at his own risk.

Unfortunately, Darren’s symptoms were progressing – he was getting a tight feeling around his chest known as the MS ‘hug’, tingling down his left side, and random symptoms, such as discomfort in his eyes and pain down his leg. Being in constant pain made it difficult to concentrate and function properly.

All the while, Darren, a member of Radlett United Synagogue, was researching MS and its different treatments. He had discovered that haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), normally a treatment for people with cancer, was also producing good results for MS sufferers.

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