One of the former stars of BBC dance show Strictly Come Dancing has revealed he was rushed to hospital recently with a mystery illness that left him “clawing at his skin”.
The Olympic athlete was taken to A&E by his worried fiancée Susie Verrill due to a 40-minute wait for an ambulance.
Taking to Instagram, blogger Susie detailed the terrifying ordeal, which unfolded over the weekend.
Strictly star Greg Rutherford was ‘clawing at his skin’
Sharing a snap of Greg in a hospital bed, Susie revealed she had “the scariest time” of her life.
She wrote: “Was enjoying a lovely roast at a friends’ house with the kids, Greg was at home because he’d been for a run and he text to say he was having an allergic reaction to something and felt itchy.
“I didn’t think much of it until he rang me screaming two minutes later. And I mean SCREAMING. He shouted ‘YOU NEED TO GET HERE NOW’ and so I drove back to our house while calling an ambulance, terrified I was about to get home and find him not breathing.
“999 said it would take 40 minutes, but that’s another issue to discuss for another day. Anyway I ran in the house found Greg there again, screaming. Acting like one of those people you see in videos where they’ve taken bath salts…
“He was clawing at his skin and just screaming. Repeatedly. He ran to our car and while I rang 999 again to say I’d have to take him, we had to run every red light and I had to focus on not crashing while he screamed and tried to grab the wheel…”
She added that he was “delirious” she looked like she was “kidnapping him”.
Pumped with steroids and antihistamines
In another post, she told how Greg – who appeared on BBC dance show Strictly in 2016 – was given steroids and antihistamines.
She then continued: “I threw him out at A&E, parked and when I got there they told me they’d sent him through to Resus. I think mainly because he was a 6ft 3 bloke acting like a psychopath and didn’t want to scare anyone.
“They pumped him full of steroids and antihistamines and it seemed to work pretty much immediately. Thankfully by the time I got there he’d stopped screaming and raking himself.
“The doctor who suggested the viral thing hadn’t seen how Greg had been on arrival. I can’t explain how much pain he was in. This is a bloke who shrugs off a grumbling appendix so If you’ve experienced similar in an allergy way please let me know.”
Mystery illness
The couple, who share children Milo, eight, Rex, five, and Daphne, two, spent hours in the hospital. Susie explained doctors were unable to give a diagnosis.
“After three hours we were allowed to go home. I felt close to having a heart attack but aside from that it’s all good on the health front,” she told her followers.
“My question is – we did nothing differently yesterday in terms of eating/drinking but the only snack @gregirutherford ate was nuts. Could he have just developed an allergy do we think? Have any of you had this?
“Hospital recommended we get him tested but said it could have also been viral. I appreciate rashes can appear with a viral illness but his body went MAD.”
Undergoing tests
Some fans questioned whether Greg could have come into contact with a plant while on his run, which may have caused a reaction. But Susie said: “We don’t think it was any sort of plant. The reaction began before he went for his run. Although we appreciate this may have exacerbated symptoms with the sweating.”
She went on to say that Greg, who popped the question to Susie in 2019, is having some tests to get “the ball rolling”. She then thanked everyone for their advice.
Sounds scary! Get well soon Greg!
Read more: Strictly fans have already decided Giovanni Pernice’s dream partner for 2023 series
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