I just thought I had a swollen wrist – the next day I woke up and couldn’t walk
DAD Lee Chambers was preparing for the arrival of his second child when he began to feel unwell.
The 29-year-old had started to put plans in place to take time off his job to support his wife – but when his wrist started to swell up, all his plans were thrown out.
Within hours of his wrist becoming swollen, his body started to show the same signs and he was rushed to hospital.
Lee, who lives in Preston with his family, said that his muscles were so stiff, which left him unable to move or walk.
He said his wife had been at work when the swelling spread to his legs, so he called his mother-in-law to take him to the doctor.
Lee said: “I was very scared.
“She is a foot shorter than me and had to physically drag me out of the house and into the car because my body just wouldn’t respond. I was admitted to hospital soon after and stayed there for a month.
“My life changed overnight.”
The shocking incident occurred in 2014 and since then, Lee has been trying to regain full function in his legs and body.
Because of this, he has struggled with depression and has been forced to rely on his family for the smallest of tasks.
Lee had to quit his job, and give up his favourite hobby, fitness.
He is now sharing his story to help others who might be struggling with their health.
After the incident, he was initially diagnosed with reactive arthritis – a usually mild condition that causes redness and swelling in the joints but doctors soon realised his case was much more serious.
Eight years on, Lee has never received a formal diagnosis, but has been told he has a version of autoimmune arthritis.
What is autoimmune arthritis?
Autoimmune arthritis, also known as inflammatory arthritis, is the name for a group of conditions where your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy joints.
Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common type of autoimmune arthritis.
This form of arthritis affects more than 400,000 in the UK and often starts when a person is between 40 and 50 years-old.
Women are three times more likely to be affected than men.
Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the body’s immune system targets affected joints, which leads to pain and swelling.
Because of all the time spent in hospital, Lee lost a lot of muscle mass and for a long time, was immobile in the hospital bed.
He said he’d lost his independence, which he found really challenging mentally.
“I prided myself on being active and able to help others, and suddenly I was in a hopeless situation and needed to ask for help.
“It went against my identity.
“At first, I was in shock and didn’t know how to feel – then the meds kicked in and I felt like I was on another planet.
“Once I came back to earth though, I was filled with anger and frustration for a long time.
“I kept thinking ‘why me’ and ‘why now’ and grieved what had happened to me – especially while not knowing what my future would look like”, he said.
LEARNING TO WALK AGAIN
For just under a year, Lee was either stuck at home or in hospital and spent hours learning to walk again.
His newborn daughter Annabel was also learning to walk.
He said: “Having my daughter was a massive motivator but also forced me to adapt, and the little things you take for granted you can’t do.
“One that sticks in my memory is I could never get on the floor with her, as I wouldn’t be able to get back up.
“Once I was able to move somewhat again, I was using her pram as a walking aid and hobbling around but I really wanted to get back to walking unaided.”
Lee said that he kept pushing to see how far he could go on his journeys outside.
“Past the lamppost, then the telephone post and so on”, he said.
‘DEVASTATED’
Before his illness Lee had spent years working as a sports coach and had been devastated to give it up.
In order to provide for his family, he set up a side hustle in the video game business.
While he enjoyed this, he really wanted to return to sports performance coaching.
Lee said: “Becoming unwell took choices away from me.
When you go through that kind of experience, you’re able to use it to empower other people and help them achieve something more
Lee Chambers
“I had to think about what I was going to do going forward, obviously having young children and still having a chronic condition.
“I wanted to get back to sports, in whatever form I could.”
Despite his ordeal he still says his illness has been a positive experience and in 2020 he .
He says it’s his dream come true to now have an elite performance coaching agency.
He said: “Physically I am back to about 70% of where I was but I am at 200% mentally because of what I’ve been through.
“I sometimes feel as if I’m in a place of privilege because of the challenges I’ve faced.
“When you go through that kind of experience, you’re able to use it to empower other people and help them achieve something more.
“Every time someone I work with progresses, it feels like I am too.
“It takes me back to my journey of recovery and while there were very difficult times, I get a very special kind of fulfilment from the work that I do.
“It’s almost as if my illness happened for me, not to me.”
GROWING UP FAST
Today Lee still lives with stiffness but can finally walk again and still says that his family are the most important thing to him.
Speaking of his children, the dad added: “Myles and Annabel are growing up so quickly.
“I hope they will see that at times life will be difficult, but that you can overcome barriers and obstacles and grow from suffering.
“I also hope they learn that things will not always go to plan, and that finding a meaningful path might take longer than they expect, but that being open will always bring them opportunities.”
Since the incident, Lee has also coached a disability football team and won a Great British Entrepreneur Award for his work with Essentialise, which supported the NHS and charities during lockdown.
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