这位父亲一觉醒来发现自己腰部以下都瘫痪了

One night 11 years ago I went to bed after a perfectly normal day and woke up paralysed from the waist down. I tried to get out of bed and nothing happened. Petrified, I banged on the floor and my dad Tim ran upstairs. My parents called a doctor and none of us had a clue what was going on. At first, doctors thought I had a tropical disease.

11年前的某个晚上，在过完完美的一天之后，我上床睡觉了。但醒来却发现腰部以下都瘫痪了。我试图起床，但动弹不得。我惊呆了，整个人撞到了地板上，我的父亲蒂姆立马跑上了楼。我的父母给医生打了电话，完全不清楚发生了什么。起初，医生以为我患了一种热带病。

It took three weeks to regain normal mobility. Eventually I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. My mum Tracey has the condition but I never thought it would happen to me as the risk of inheriting MS is tiny. At first, I took it in my stride and went back to work as an assistant manager for a mobile phone company.

三周之后，我才恢复了正常的行动能力。最终我被诊断为多发性硬化症。我的母亲特蕾西患有该症状，但我从来没想过我可能患上这种疾病，因为遗传多发性硬化症的概率是非常小的。刚开始，我从容地接受了这一事实，继续回到移动电话公司做助理经理。

And for the first five years life continued as normal. I didn't have any more attacks, I played football and was really active. I married Nancie, a 28-year-old cake maker. We were neighbours as kids and she knew I was ill when we got together. We started a family but now my MS has really kicked in and I am in pain every single day and need strong painkillers.

起初的5年，生活还是那般正常。病情没有再次发作，我还踢足球、相当活跃。我和南希结婚了，她是位28岁的蛋糕师。小时候我们就是邻居，在一起的时候她也知道我患有这种疾病。我们组建了家庭，但现在多发性硬化症又开始发作了，每天我都十分痛苦，需要强效止痛药。

I have relapse and remitting MS, the most common type. It means I have relapses which can cause new symptoms - while old symptoms can suddenly increase in intensity. When in remission, you can have few or no symptoms - though, unusually, mine continue. My walking capabilities are getting worse, which means the disease might be moving into the secondary progressive stage.

我患有复发-缓解型多发性硬化症，最常见的一种。这就意味着症状会复发，可能导致新的症状--而以往的症状可能会突然加剧。病情缓解的时候，可能只有一些或没有症状--但异常的是，我的症状仍旧持续着。我的行走能力变得越来越差，这就意味着病情可能朝第二个进展阶段发展了。

At 5ft 8in, I only weigh 8st and have problems with my memory and bladder control. My main problem is fatigue. I suffer chronic pain in my legs, a constant burning, throbbing pain which affects my balance, walking, speech and memory. When I walk, I really have to think about it. I have to concentrate on not falling over, so I can't walk and talk at the same time.

在5英尺8英寸处，我只有8英石重，记忆力和膀胱控制力也出现了问题。我主要的问题就是疲劳。我的腿部慢性疼痛、持续的灼热、抽痛感，这会影响我的平衡、走路、说话和记忆。当我走路的时候，我真的得好好想想。我必须集中注意力防止跌倒，所以我不能一边走路一边说话。

I go to King's College Hospital in London once a month for blood tests. Nancie drives me when she can but I often need to get the train because she has to look after our children - seven-year-old Alice, who suffers from a genetic disorder, and our sons Bailey, six, and Teddy, 18 months.

我每月去一次位于伦敦的国王学院医院进行血液检测。南希有空的时候就会载我过去，但通常我都需要搭乘火车，因为她得照顾我们的孩子--7岁的爱丽丝，她患有遗传疾病，以及我们6岁的儿子贝利和18个月大的儿子特迪。