A MAN left temporarily paralysed by a rare medical condition has vowed to complete a mile-long walk for the Sport Relief charity.

Graham Chapman, 64, of Cholsey, was left helpless when he developed Guillain–Barré syndrome on his birthday in June 2008.

Dropping off his mother at her home in Reading following a family pub lunch, he was suddenly unable to stand up from his chair.

At the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, doctors realised his immune system had over-reacted to a minor stomach upset, attacking and destroying his body’s nervous system.

Completely paralysed, he did not leave hospital for six months.

He said: “I went from being relatively fit to absolutely incapable. I did not know whether it was a stroke or what had happened.

“It was totally random, without rhyme or reason — the average GP will see a case like me maybe once in his career. I couldn’t do anything.

“I couldn’t feed myself. It was 14 weeks before I could even sit up, so they had to use a hoist to get me in and out of bed and to the toilet.”

Throughout his illness and slow recovery, the grandfather-of-three kept a diary recording his emotional battle against the illness. He said: “I didn’t know if I was going to recover. Family, faith and friends got me through those times.”

His wife Dot visited his bedside every day, and he said support from St Mary’s Church in his village had also helped him recover.

He said: “Nerves can re-grow, but you have to train yourself to do it. You have to reactivate your brain and muscles to work. It is not just a physical battle, but a mental battle.

“I've always tried to keep upbeat. I saw people in hospital who made me think I was just lucky to be in the state I was in.”

His recovery, masterminded by the Oxford Centre for Enablement at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, has been agonisingly slow.

When he took his first steps, it took him a minute to walk ten metres with a zimmer frame. Since leaving hospital, personal trainer Rupert Ward has helped him build up strength and movement at Didcot’s Wave Leisure Centre.

Mr Chapman said: “When I came out of hospital, I was still drinking beer through a straw. I could not tie a bow in my shoelaces. I was completely incapacitated. There was not any part of me that worked.”

Mr Chapman will attempt to walk the charity mile at Ladygrove, Didcot, on Saturday.

He said: “I will probably have to use crutches for part of it, but it has given me a target. It will take me about half an hour to complete. I walk like Donald Duck these days.”

Mr Ward said: “From when he first came into the gym in a wheelchair, he has done brilliantly. It will be a big, big challenge for him, but he has certainly walked a mile on the treadmill.”