Dad 'locked in own body' after headache turned out to be something far worse

A dad-of-two has been left “locked in his own body” after a headache turned out to be a rare and life-shattering stroke.

At just 38 years old, Gareth Bayley, a builder from Bexley in southeast London, had been suffering with what he thought were stress-related headaches for about a week back in April 2022. But when he called his wife Karen from work, telling her he felt unwell, her gut instinct kicked in and she suspected something wasn’t right.

Karen rushed to pick him up, only to find out that Gareth had collapsed and suffered a terrifying seizure in front of his colleagues. At the hospital, Gareth continued to suffer seizures. It wasn’t until the following day that doctors made the shocking discovery that he had a stroke, which would change his life forever.

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The stroke had hit Gareth’s brain stem and left the once-active dad with Locked-In Syndrome, which is a rare condition that leaves a person fully conscious but almost completely paralysed. Doctors told his devastated wife her husband would likely never move again.

She said: "Gareth is one in a million to me. He’s still the same man inside. He remembers everything, he laughs, he cries — he just can’t speak or move.”

Despite the bleak prognosis, Gareth has regained small but incredible functions. He can smile. He can laugh. And using his eyes, he can spell out words by blinking letter by letter.

Now, the family have launched a desperate bid to raise £35,000 for a piece of specialist equipment they say could change Gareth’s life once more, and even help bring him home. Gareth’s condition means he can’t speak or move, but Karen says his mind is sharp as ever.

“It’s like he’s trapped inside,” Karen added. "Doctors told us the most we could hope for was eye movement. But he’s gone beyond that. He fights every day.”

The family’s hope now rests on a revolutionary rehabilitation device called a Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) bike, which uses electrical pulses to activate paralysed muscles and could potentially help Gareth move his arms and legs together. But the bike, which is only available from the US, comes with a staggering £35,000 price tag.

Karen explained: “To the system, it’s not ‘essential’, but to us, it’s everything. This could give Gareth a real chance at recovery, independence and dignity.”

The heartbroken partner said that since his stroke, Gareth has been moved from hospital to rehab to a care home. But what he wants most is to be back with his family. She added: "He’s told us, using his eyes, that he wants to come home. If we can get this equipment and I’m trained on how to use it, he could come home to us.”

Currently, Gareth gets physio once a week, but Karen believes the FES bike could dramatically increase his progress and give him a shot at a better life.

She said: “It would help build muscle strength, reduce spasms, and even prevent pressure sores. We just want to give him the best chance.”

The family's GoFundMe page has already drawn huge support from the public, with donations flooding in from strangers who’ve been touched by Gareth’s story, with Karen saying the support from people they don't even know being "overwhelming".

She added: “He was 38. You don’t think of strokes happening to people that young. But one moment changed everything. It’s turned our world upside down.”

To donate to the family's GoFundMe, visit this page here.