A man told he was going to die after being diagnosed with a terminal illness later discovered his symptoms had been caused - by his prescribed statin pills.<br /><br />Paul Gill, 65, brought his wedding forward and was given the choice of dying at home or in a hospice after being told he had Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in June last year.<br /><br />The former rugby league player was resigned to suffering a fate similar to fellow ex-Leeds Rhinos star Rob Burrow, who has been left wheelchair-bound by the condition.<br /><br />There is currently no cure for MND, which affects the nerves and brain and slowly robs patients of the ability to walk, talk and eat.<br /><br />But following six months of extensive therapy and life-prolonging treatment, Paul was shocked to find that his health had actually started to improve.<br /><br />And on January 25, he learned that he actually had statin-induced myopathy - caused by his nightly 40mg cholesterol tablet - which he stopped taking after his MND diagnosis. <br /><br />The grandad-of-one, who had expected to die in agony but could now make a full recovery, said: “I’m just in shock. <br /><br />"It’s a wonderful feeling, an incredible feeling. I feel like I’ve had a death sentence and I've been let off - like I’ve come off death row. <br /><br />“A couple of my good pals that I played with at Clayton Rugby Club, unfortunately, they had MND - and I thought of Rob Burrow straight away.<br /><br />“But the big key decision I made - which I didn’t realise at the time was going to be absolutely massive - was I stopped taking my Statins when I got diagnosed. <br /><br />“The consultant told me when I went back on January 25 that was probably the best decision I’d ever made. They were actually impacting my muscles.<br /><br /> “I’m still speechless, and it’s just a miracle.”<br /><br />Paul, who played 47 times for the Headingley club in the 1980s, began to feel unwell at the start of last year when he struggled to climb steps.<br /><br />And he chose to get checked out by doctors in February after a holiday to Lanzarote where he failed to walk around 300 yards along the promenade at Playa Blanca.<br /><br />Back home in Bradford, West Yorks, he underwent a series of examinations in hospital, where he was given MRI and CT scans as well as dozens of blood tests.<br /><br />But in just a couple of months, the former water billing and collection manager lost four stone in weight and was left wheelchair-bound with the mystery illness. <br /><br />Following a test to measure his muscle's response to electronic pulses, he got the news that he had MND on June 18 at an appointment accompanied by his fiancee Christine Metcalfe, 55.<br /><br />Paul said of the diagnosis: “I was absolutely gobsmacked. It was easily the worst day of my life. We were both absolutely on the floor, basically. <br /><br />“I can remember the day as the darkest day for us both. <br /><br />“I don’t think I’ve ever been as low in my life. Of course, I thought, ‘Well, what happens now?’ I thought 'It’s just all downhill I’d imagine.'”
