Dad developed Tourette’s and couldn’t talk after catching virus on Thailand trip

A dad developed symptoms of Tourette’s syndrome after catching a potentially deadly viral fever from a mosquito.

Ross Constable, 48, was on a 10-day family holiday to Phuket, Thailand, during Christmas 2019 when he was bitten by the blood-sucking insect.

It’s not an unusual occurrence on a trip to the tropics. ‘We knew we’d get bitten and I did get bitten, we all did’, the secondary school art teacher said.

But he soon felt severely unwell after returning home to Timperley, a village in Greater Manchester.

He felt fatigued, his body ached and his fever was high. It seemed as though he had the flu, and that is what doctors initially thought.

But his condition kept getting worse. Ross told Manchester Evening News: ‘The skin all came off, you lose a lot of skin on your body, it’s one of the symptoms – it was shredding, came and went. I think I was bit on my foot.

‘I was bedbound for two weeks. They developed over time – I was really thirsty, sleeping a lot and in and out of consciousness.’

Even when he was a wake, Ross had a loose grip on reality. He had something called ‘Alice in Wonderland’ syndrome, which distorts a person’s perception.

‘I felt like I could feel knees to feet’, he said. ‘I was taller than buildings around me and arms would stretch across the car park.’

Testing confirmed Ross had dengue fever, and a specialist thought he also had Japanese encephalitis.

Also a viral infection transmitted by mosquito bites, it can cause inflammation of the brain.

But something else was also emerging -tics.

Ross was experiencing involuntary muscle spasms, he sometimes struggled to speak, and he hit himself out of frustration. It all seemed reminiscent of Tourette’s syndrome.

Adult-onset Tourette’s is rare, but there is a link between tic disorders and inflammation triggered by the body’s immune response.

Some people with Tourette’s show signs of an inflamed central nervous system – which includes the brain.

Studies have also shown that treatment for immunological problems can actually reduce the symptoms of Tourette’s, according to research published in The Open Neurology Journal.

Ross has tried medication to treat his symptoms, but he stopped taking them because they made him feel emotionally number.

Instead he has sought support from friends and family, avoided noisy and confusing places that could aggravate symptoms, and increasingly finds solace in painting nature.

Some of his artwork will be shown at the Hepplestone Art Gallery in Wilmslow on May 8.

He said: ‘On one of my darkest days, my brain was so fit to burst I had to escape the house.

‘Everything was frantic and loud; the cars, the people, my thoughts – my constant tics. Everyone rushing to be somewhere else – racing to get out.

‘I needed to find somewhere quiet and headed for The Carrs Park. It was so peaceful being surrounded by the birdsong, the branches swaying, the sea of green calmed me.

‘I paused and a small bug crawling over a curved leaf caught my eye. As I focused on that tiny natural process, clarity found me. I realised nature carries on around us at its own pace, regardless of the busyness of life.

‘It offers us pause, lets us reflect and take solace that what has been before, will be again.

‘That simple message of renewal was the turning point in my recovery.

‘My paintings are an homage to the respite and rejuvenation nature continues to offer in my life.’

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