Like many other 13-year olds, Luke dreamed of becoming a professional footballer but after a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, his future was uncertain.
Luke Frith, 30, from Chapeltown, was 13 when he developed the condition that causes severe tiredness.
Mr Frith said: “I was training for a Sunday league football game when suddenly I started throwing up and feeling extremely tired. I couldn’t run around the football pitch like I used to, which was really scary.”
“After that my tiredness only got worse, school was a ten minute walk from where I lived but I would throw up multiple times before I got there, so I eventually stopped going to school because I was so ill.
“I dreamed of becoming a footballer but now I was in a wheelchair. I very quickly realised that my future was uncertain and it felt like hell.”
After six months of blood tests, surgery, and sleeping with probes on his head, Luke was finally diagnosed with sleep apnea and chronic fatigue syndrome.
“I was referred to a specialist but at this point I couldn’t walk down the stairs without throwing up, I didn’t feel like I had enough support because I didn’t know anyone my age who was going through what I was.”
Doctors told Luke that he may never walk again or have full time employment.
“I just kept thinking ‘why me?’ “
Luke still continued to work towards his GCSE’s, after school finished he managed to secure a job as a chef which caused his symptoms to worsen.
“It absolutely killed me, I would sleep for up to 12 hours a day, wake up and feel like I could go straight back to bed. At this time I was throwing up 10 to 20 times a day but because I was in the catering industry, I couldn’t work when I was sick so it was a vicious cycle.
“I then put on loads of weight because I barely left the house in three years which had a massive impact on me, I had no self-esteem and felt utterly lost”
Just when Luke thought life couldn’t get any worse, he received news that his father, Stephen Frith, was unwell.
“It didn’t really sink in at the time, my family and I were mostly focused on making his last Christmas the best ever.
Six months after Stephen received his diagnosis of lung cancer in autumn of 2015, he passed away.
“After my father died, life changed for me. It showed my how precious life is and that we need to live with no regrets.
“We need to create a life we can be proud of and one that truly makes us happy.”
Luke then decided to change his lifestyle, on days where he felt well enough he started running and cut out red meat.
After a year of exercising, Luke made the leap to join a gym.
“It was like therapy for me, despite how rubbish it’s been I felt like I had a purpose, I created something positive out of the hardship.”
As the first lockdown hit, Luke spent time in isolation learning how to be a qualified personal trainer and now runs his own private gym studio in Chapeltown.
“Never in a million years did I expect to go from a wheelchair to working as a personal trainer. It’s mind boggling.
“The sort of clients I naturally attract would never go to a commercial gym, they need an arm around the shoulder as much as they need the diet and exercise side of things.”
Over the course of four years, Luke has lost seven stone and continues to share his story on social media.
Dr Charles Shepherd Hon Medical Adviser for the ME Association: “It’s good to learn that after many years of chronic ill health Luke is now well again.
One of the key diagnostic symptoms of ME is exercise induced fatigue – so the new NICE guideline on ME/CFS makes it very clear that graded exercise programmes should not be prescribed for people with ME. Any increase in physical activity must therefore be carried out flexibly, very gradually and not in a way that causes any form of symptom exacerbation
ME is a very disabling neurologial condition affecting at least 250,000 people in the UK. Around 25% of people are severely affected leaving them housebound or bed bound.
The outloook is very variable and while some people will make improvement over time others remain very unwell. Complete and sustained recovery is unusual.
Sadly, there are no effective drug or other treatments at present that affect the underlying disease process but clinical trials are taking place.”
For information and support please contact the ME Association: www.meassociation.org.uk
To see more from Luke: https://m.facebook.com/lukesamuelfrith/