'Liquid gold' plasma treatment helps paralysed man walk again after doctors said he never would

A 71-year-old Warwickshire man left paralysed from the neck down by a rare autoimmune condition has defied medical expectations by walking out of hospital following life-saving plasma treatment.

Tony Newitt, from Alcester, was struck down by Guillain-Barre Syndrome last year, leaving him fearing he would never meet his grandchild.

The cancer survivor has now credited plasma donations as the sole reason he has been able to rebuild his life.

"Without donors, many people's recoveries would not be possible," Mr Newitt said. "People often think blood donations are only needed in emergencies, but blood and plasma also help people facing serious illnesses and long recoveries like mine."

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

His daughter Lauren Marshall has described the treatment as "liquid gold" and has become a regular plasma donor herself.

Mr Newitt received a diagnosis of bowel and liver cancer in 2024, undergoing intensive treatment that ultimately showed no trace of the disease in subsequent scans.

Yet just weeks after completing his final chemotherapy session, he collapsed at home in March 2025 whilst taking out the bins. Medical staff were initially perplexed by his sudden deterioration.

Ms Marshall, who was 37 and expecting her daughter Isabelle at the time, recalled: "The staff in hospital didn't know what had happened because it was just like somebody had flipped the switch and he had just lost all use of his body."

The family initially feared brain cancer might be responsible for his paralysis.

His oncologist eventually proposed GBS as the cause, which a lumbar puncture subsequently confirmed.

Guillain-Barre Syndrome is a rare disorder affecting approximately 1,300 individuals annually across the UK, caused by an immune system overreaction that damages the peripheral nervous system.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• One million Britons to be offered meningitis B jab after multiple outbreaks of 'horrendous' disease
• Warning nearly 3,000 patients a day are receiving corridor care in NHS hospitals
• 'I had a heart attack five years ago... it all started with a sensation I'd never felt before'

Following confirmation of his diagnosis, Mr Newitt was moved to a neurological ward at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

There, he received two crucial plasma-derived treatments: intravenous immunoglobulin and therapeutic plasma exchange.

"There were times when I honestly thought that my grandchild was going to be my replacement," Mr Newitt said.

"Before I received the IVIG and the plasma exchange, everything in my body was affected, apart from my cognitive abilities."

Over a 10-day period, he underwent five IVIG infusions alongside five plasma exchanges.

His symptoms stabilised within days, enabling him to start intensive physiotherapy.

Despite doctors warning that he would likely never walk again, Mr Newitt refused to accept their prognosis.

"I categorically disagreed and told the doctors that I would walk again, and that when I did, I would do it in a tutu and so I did," he said.

True to his word, he departed Leamington Rehab Hospital in October following a six-month stay, walking out proudly while wearing the promised tutu.

"It was truly something I will never forget," Mr Newitt said. "Due to my age and the spread of the GBS, my prognosis for recovery was not great."

The determined grandfather now maintains a daily exercise regime at home.

In April, he celebrated his remarkable recovery by taking his first overseas family holiday in three years.

Ms Marshall, who has donated blood for two decades following the loss of a close friend in a car accident, has now switched to plasma donation after witnessing her father's recovery.

"He says it was the 'liquid gold' that gave him his life back," she said. "It is so important to highlight that no level of effort and no amount of physio would have made his recovery possible without the plasma treatments."

NHS Blood and Transplant reports that more than 3,200 patients have received immunoglobulin medicines derived from UK-donated plasma since March, five years after a ban introduced over mad cow disease concerns was lifted.

Britain currently meets just 23 per cent of NHS immunoglobulin demand, with the remainder imported primarily from America.

NHSBT aims to increase self-sufficiency to 35 per cent by 2030. Plasma donations can be made at specialist centres in Birmingham, Reading and Twickenham, with the process taking just over an hour.

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter