James Gray from Main Street, Gleneely, said he was jumping for joy when he scored a goal for Gleneely Football Club - a dream this time last year he never thought would come true.

Last year the 27-year-old's distraught friends and family were preparing for the worst after doctors told them James was hanging on to dear life and might not survive the infection he contracted - Guillain-Barré syndrome - which left him paralysed, comatosed and on a ventilator.

They were told that at best - if he did recover - he had just a fifty per cent chance of walking again.

But after being in a coma for three weeks and spending months learning to walk again, James baffled doctors by making a full recovery.
He told the Journal: "I am so lucky, I know that.

"I just live life to the most now, I enjoy every day because you don't know when it is your last."

The amateur footballer, who is originally from Paisley in Scotland, said doctors believe the illness may have developed following a trip to Egypt the year before.

They suspect he may have been bitten by an insect which could have lay dormant - until it struck on January 12 last year.

The plasterer said doctors initially thought he had a viral chest infection.

The onset of James' illness was sudden and severe - he experienced pins and needles sensation in his arms and legs.

But the next day his symptoms worsened and numbness set in, especially in his back and throat, he was weak all over and started to lose his balance.

The day after that there was no improvement and James' health deteriorated more so when he lost power in his legs.

He said he remembers feeling absolutely 'petrified' and felt his body was simply giving up on him.

The illness rapidly progressed, soon leaving James paralysed from the waste down, unconscious and on a ventilator. He spent nearly a week in intensive care. Doctors performed a lumbar puncture, which revealed high levels of protein in his blood and brain and Guillain-Barré syndrome was diagnosed. James was transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin where he regained consciousness after three and a half weeks.
During this time, James's father passed away unexpectedly. His doctors were so worried about his condition, however, that they delayed telling him for a week.

He says now: "That was the worst thing about it all, I couldn't go to my dad's funeral."

After spending a further month in Drogheda hospital, James moved to the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dun Laoghaire.

James said: "The doctors never built my hopes up. My mum came over a few times when I was in the rehab.

"I was started to get a bit of feeling back in my legs but they told my mum I might never walk again.

"I was kept so busy with the physiotherapy I never really thought about it."

James said in his darkest hour he would think 'Why me, why did I deserve this?' but said he did try to remain optimistic.

He said it would break his heart to see his beloved football on the TV, especially when he was couped up inside hospital.

But the Arsenal fan said he was determined to walk again and he even promised his sister Kirsty he would be walking before her then-one-year-old daughter Stephanie started.

And it wasn't before long he was wowing his friends and family was able to ditch his wheelchair, zimmer frame and crutches and he claims he is now 'walking, leaping and running' with a grin on his face.

He went back home to Scotland last Thursday to celebrate his birthday after his sister threw a party.

He said: "It was great, they gave me a party because I didn't celebrate my birthday last year. One of my friends said 'mate you are so lucky to be here, this time last year we were so worried because you were in hospital' and he is right I am lucky to be alive."

He was given another surprise recently when his sister named her first son - James - after her heroic brother.

Doctors attribute his speedy recovery down to him being a young, healthy non-smoker and also because he was 'hit so hard by the illness' that he had a better chance of surviving it.

But James reckons the support of his friends and family who visited him regularly was also a major factor in getting a clean bill of health.

James said he is 'praying to God' the illness won't strike again.

He said it is very rare and he has only heard of one woman who has had it five times.

The plucky plasterer - who is now back at work a few days a week - is back at his home in Gleneely, where he has lived for the past 11 years.
And said he is 'living life to its fullest!'.