Clooney’s doctor my only chance for cure
Scot planning US trip to treat agonising ‘brain leak’
AS an outdoor enthusiast who relished hillwalking, mountain biking and Munro-bagging with his new wife, David Baldwin enjoyed life to the full.
So, feeling tired after white water kayaking, he thought little of it and went to bed.
Hours later, however, he suffered a headache so severe he had to crawl instead of walk and could not to sit up for more than ten minutes.
Doctors diagnosed him with a rare cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak, where the liquid which cushions the brain and spine seeps out through a tear in its surrounding protective sac.
The brain is no longer properly supported – resulting in debilitating neurological symptoms.
Hollywood star George Clooney, who suffered from the condition after banging his head while shooting a scene for 2005 thriller Syriana, said it nearly drove him to suicide.
numerous attempts to find and fix Mr Baldwin’s leak have failed. now he and his wife, Cerian, believe his last chance of recovery may lie with Clooney’s surgeon.
Two years since Mr Baldwin was diagnosed, the couple have raised more than £30,000 towards the £ 60,000 needed for pioneering treatment in the US.
Surgery for the condition – which affects about five in 100,000 people – carries significant risks including paralysis, death, nerve damage or meningitis. But Mr Baldwin, 35, is willing to take the risk.
‘The pain is excruciating, extraordinary,’ he said. ‘Headache doesn’t do it justice. The pressure in your head is overwhelming. Sometimes I can feel air coming out of my eyes when I lie down. My ears pop.
‘Without surgery, I might suffer permanent pain for the next 50 years. For someone with an active mind, who has always been active and hard- working, it is devastating.’
Two leading experts in CSF leak location will decide whether surgery offers his best hope after examining scan results.
Mr Baldwin would then be operated on by the man who helped Clooney, Dr Wouter Schievink, who is based in Los Angeles.
Mrs Baldwin said: ‘They’re the best chance we have to reclaim our life and we have to give it a shot.’
In June 2013, baffled doctors suggested Mr Baldwin was suffering from migraines. But two months later, before he could attend a neurologist’s appointment, he was taken to Raigmore Hospital, Inver-
‘The best chance to reclaim our life’
ness, with breathing problems. A diagnosis of a CSF leak followed.
Doctors believe kayaking – which Mr Baldwin had enjoyed for 25 years – could have caused it.
nine MRI scans have failed to find the location of the leak.
Following the most recent scan last month, Mr Baldwin’s condition has deteriorated.
He is no longer able to work as a town planner and is largely housebound in the couple’s cottage near Strathpeffer, Ross-shire.
His wife, a senior planner with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, has taken paid leave to care for him.
‘I worry about leaving him at home on his own,’ she said. ‘His muscles are weak and I worry something’s going to happen.’
The couple, who have put their savings into an appeal to raise money for the treatment, thanked those who have contributed – some of whom they have never met.
Mrs Baldwin said: ‘It’s been amazing, really touching.
‘We miss our old life and we’re desperate to get back to it.’