In early May 1973 after being admitted to Radcliffe Infirmary I was confirmed as having a deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Discharged, but then about a month later I was re-admitted with a second DVT in other leg! I spent about a total of six weeks in hospital, when Dr David Tibbets, a Nuffield Professor came to see me and told me they were certain I had ‘Behcets Syndrome’.
I soon learned that Behcets Syndrome is very rare but causes inflammation of the blood vessels and tissue, and is can lead to DVT, especially in the legs
As a result I ended up on warfarin and prednisone for some time. Both DVTs were below knee.
However in October 2015 after flying back from Canada I had a new confirmed thigh to knee DVT . Luckily apixaban had just become available, so I was prescribed that and am now on that for rest of my life, and wear open toe below knee Duomed class 2 supports.
However, a diagnosis did not stop me and I continued to live my life to the full. In 2018 I retired after 50 years as a design engineer much of that time for Williams Grand Prix. I achieved five drivers championships with Nelson Piquet, Nigell Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, and Jaques Villeneuve, and seven constructors championships!
