Publish date: 29 May 2023
Critically ill in hospital, Kieran Morgan’s chances of surviving were “truly worse than terrible” but one thing kept him going.
It was the thought of restoring and getting behind the wheel of his newly bought 1999 Mercedes C-Class saloon.
Kieran, from Poulton-le-Fylde, was receiving treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease when immunosuppressant therapy he was receiving went catastrophically wrong.
“Basically, my immune system was wiped out,” he said. “I was rushed to hospital and the only option was to sedate and fully ventilate me.
“It was only thanks to the incredible talents and unmovable determination of the staff who never gave up on me that I survived – and not only that but taken off ventilation which had initially been considered impossible.”
Kieran, 41, who was studying law at Liverpool John Moores University when he fell ill in 2014, slowly but steadily improved over three months in hospital.
He was advised to find a goal to focus his rehabilitation on, so the self-confessed “mad car enthusiast” had a picture of his battered Mercedes pinned by his bedside.
“My goal was not just to be able to drive it but be healthy enough to restore it too,” said Kieran.
“I went on to beat the persistent clinical expectation that I would never walk again – and I even went on to get my race driving licence which I achieved at Silverstone.”
Kieran now walks unaided, has restored his Mercedes and hopes to return to studying law one day.
“I also want to thank the hospital chaplaincy team. They were especially supportive to my close family and particularly at very worst moments I was in intensive care.”
He added: “Nelson Mandela once said ‘it’s only impossible until it’s done’, and the Blackpool intensive care team at the time epitomised this with me.”
