I had been up early in the morning with my dogs and was walking up the pathway to my cottage when it hit me, shocking unbearable pain in my right leg that stopped me dead in my tracks. Managing to limp into the house I had no idea what was wrong and had to lie down and catch my breath for a moment.
Over the course of the next few weeks I visited a Chiropractor who assured me it was a trapped sciatic nerve, and then my Doctor who also told me it was really nothing to worry about and to take it easy. However, as the days passed, I felt more and more unwell, and despite return visits to my Doctor after more than four weeks had passed, I felt terrible.
Having never been sick at this point I knew something was seriously wrong, and as dramatic as it sounds, I got into my car and drove to Stoke Mandeville Hospital. On arrival I told reception I would not leave until someone had seen me. Within two hours I had been seen and the specialist who was very concerned about the temperature of my foot, and he organised an angiogram immediately.