Malaria? Thank God for that – I thought I was dying from ebola
IN GABON, while filming a series about my trip along the Equator, I suddenly became ill. My temperature was rising – 39.7, 39.8, 39.9. I was feverish, but I was also shaking and cold. One of the team remembered that we’d briefly met a young German doctor. She was working at the nearby Albert Schweitzer Hospital, one of the best research centres on the continent for tropical diseases. It was a chance encounter that ultimately helped to save my life. I was drifting in and out of consciousness, with a temperature that left me just a shade off brain impairment, and I was hallucinating. A local doctor arrived first. I came round in time to find him examining me. I was terrified, convinced I had contracted ebola. The doctor spent a few minutes checking me over. ‘What do you think it is?’ I asked. ‘Malaria.’ I’ve never felt such immediate relief. Malaria. Thank God. Not ebola. My eyeballs wouldn’t bleed. I wouldn’t haemorrhage internally. Then came the German doctor who gave the same diagnosis and offered practical help in the shape of a packet of Artemether, a newish drug that was not regulated or allowed in the UK. ‘This could save his life,’ she said. Artemether works by persuading malarial parasites to launch their attack before they are fully armed and ready. I had no choice.
I took the pills. Six chunky tablets, braced with a cocktail of other drugs and paracetamol to get my temperature down.
Four hours later I was doubled up with the most intense sickness I had ever experienced. I had a full-blown malarial assault and my temperature leapt around like the bearing in a pinball machine.
The attack went on for 24 hours. I was so weak, I could barely lift my head. I spent the next few days sleeping.
The sickness was a key turning point in my life. Before I had malaria I felt fit, energetic and just a little bit immortal. I’ve never felt the same since.
I was lucky. As a privileged foreign TV presenter travelling in Africa, I had swift access to medical help and rare drugs.
I was also stupid. I knew I was in a danger zone but had forgotten to take my antimalaria drugs.
It is not a mistake anyone makes twice.