Man 'dead from the neck down' after running bath to ease nerve pain

A man who ran a bath thinking he had pinched a nerve has ended up paralysed for life in just minutes.

In July, 2019 Darren Roberts, then 36, was watching TV one afternoon when he felt a sharp pinch in his neck followed by pins and needles in his arms, Wales Online reported.

Thinking he had pinched a nerve, he decided to have a bath hoping it would ease the pain.

However, around 20 minutes later his toes, legs, hips, arms and torso had all gone numb, leaving him only able to move his head, and trapping him in the bath.

“During all of this my parents had called for an ambulance," Mr Roberts told Wales Online.

"When they arrived they had to remove me from the bath as I was basically dead from the neck down."

Darren's family were told to 'prepare for the worst'

At the hospital, Mr Roberts, from southern Wales, was put in an induced coma in intensive care.

"At one point, the family was told to prepare for the worst as his injury was that severe," a GoFundMe page set up by a friend of Mr Roberts' said.

"It didn't look like Darren was going to make it. Luckily, he was eventually brought out of the coma but told the damage to his spinal cord was irreversible and he would be tetraplegic from C3-C5 level.

"This [meant] that Darren would have virtually no movement from the neck down."

Mr Roberts — who friends described as "active and social" and enjoyed fixing cars and golf — had to adjust to life only having mobility in his arms and requiring 24-hour care.

“I knew my life was never going to be the same again," he said.

"I didn’t know what to think because I was such an independent person. It was a massive shock to my system to now be in a position where I had to ask for everything — even something as little as a sip of water.”

New home required to leave hospital

Mr Roberts was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital in September 2019, where he has remained since.

Although he is closer to leaving the hospital, he has to move into a new house that can accommodate for his needs as he requires constant care.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help purchase equipment for his home, in order for him to live outside the hospital and give him the "best opportunity to live his life to the fullest without the worry."

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"The community support will supply the bare necessities to get him home such as a suitable bed, wheelchair and hoists, [but] there is still a whole host of specialist equipment that Darren will need to help with his new lifestyle which will not be provided to him," the page read.

"As many of you know setting up a new home is expensive enough, but setting up a new home with all normal things as well as adaptive and assistance items is an added pressure that Darren could do without."

According to the GoFundMe page, the reason for Mr Roberts' spinal injury is unknown.

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