A dream holiday to the sun-drenched island of Tenerife turned into a life-or-death nightmare for a British tourist after a bizarre symptom he dismissed turned out to be a terrifying medical emergency.
Mark Godden, 55, was enjoying a break with his wife when he suddenly developed double vision. Assuming it was simply a result of tiredness or perhaps even a side effect of his medication, he tried to ignore it. However, the symptom persisted, forcing him to cut his holiday short and return home to Kent.
Upon his return, Mark's wife, a former NHS nurse, insisted he seek immediate medical attention. Her professional intuition proved to be lifesaving. Doctors at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford discovered the terrifying truth: Mark was suffering from a brain aneurysm that had ruptured, causing a subarachnoid haemorrhage—a dangerous type of stroke caused by bleeding on the brain's surface.
"It was a ticking time bomb in my head," Mark recounted. "I had no other symptoms like a severe headache or sickness, just the double vision. I was moments away from a catastrophic event."
He was immediately blue-lighted to King's College Hospital in London, a leading centre for neurology. There, he underwent a pioneering six-hour emergency procedure where surgeons inserted 17 platinum coils into the ruptured aneurysm to stem the bleeding and prevent further rupture.
Mark's recovery has been nothing short of remarkable. Thanks to the swift actions of his wife and the expertise of the NHS medics, he has been given a second chance at life. He is now sharing his story to urge others not to ignore unusual symptoms, no matter how minor they may seem.
"The consultants and surgeons said I was one of the luckiest people they've ever seen," he said. "I owe everything to my wife and the NHS. I wouldn't be here without them."
