A Midland father who was paralysed from the neck down due to a rare illness has defied medical expectations by walking out of hospital after receiving life-saving treatment. Tony Newitt, a cancer survivor from Alcester, Warwickshire, feared he would never meet his grandchild after being diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) last year.
The 71-year-old is now urging more people to donate plasma, describing the treatments as the "only reason" he has been able to rebuild his life. His daughter, Lauren Marshall, hailed plasma as "liquid gold" and has become a regular donor herself.
A Sudden Collapse
Mr Newitt was diagnosed with bowel and liver cancer in 2024. After intensive treatment, scans showed no signs of the disease. However, in March 2025, just weeks after his final chemotherapy session, he collapsed at home while putting out the bins. Medics were initially baffled by his condition.
Ms Marshall, 37, who was pregnant with her daughter Isabelle at the time, said: "The staff in hospital didn’t know what had happened because it was like somebody had flipped the switch and he just lost all use of his body. We all thought it might be brain cancer pushing on a particular part of his brain. It was very scary."
Diagnosis and Treatment
Mr Newitt’s oncologist eventually suggested GBS, which was confirmed by a lumbar puncture. This rare condition, affecting around 1,300 people annually in the UK, is caused by an overreaction of the immune system that damages peripheral nerves. Symptoms include numbness, pins and needles, and muscle weakness.
Following diagnosis, Mr Newitt was transferred to a neurological ward at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, where he received two key treatments: intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and therapeutic plasma exchange, both derived from donated plasma.
Mr Newitt said: "There were times when I thought my grandchild was going to be my replacement. I genuinely didn’t think my condition could deteriorate further. Before I received the IVIG and plasma exchange, everything in my body was affected, apart from my cognitive abilities."
Remarkable Recovery
Over ten days, he had five IVIG infusions and five plasma exchanges. His symptoms stabilised within days, allowing him to begin extensive physiotherapy. Despite being told it was unlikely he would walk again, Mr Newitt walked out of Leamington Rehab Hospital last October.
He said: "I proudly walked out of hospital following a long six-month stay. It was something I will never forget. Due to my age and the spread of GBS, my prognosis for recovery was not great. I was told I may never walk again. I categorically disagreed and told the doctors I would walk again, and that when I did, I would do it in a tutu – and so I did!"
Mr Newitt now exercises daily at home and in April went on his first family holiday abroad in three years.
Call for Plasma Donors
According to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), more than 3,200 patients have received immunoglobulin medicines made from UK-donated plasma since March. This follows the lifting of a ban on UK plasma use, imposed in 1998 due to concerns over Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The UK now meets 23% of NHS immunoglobulin demand but still relies on imports, primarily from the US. NHSBT aims to increase this to 35% by 2030.
Ms Marshall, who has been a blood donor for two decades after losing a close friend in a car accident, switched to donating plasma after her father’s experience. She said: "My dad said the plasma he received was the only reason he was able to leave hospital and begin to rebuild his life. He calls it ‘liquid gold’ that gave him his life back. No amount of physio would have made his recovery possible without the plasma treatments."
Gerry Gogarty, director of blood supply at NHSBT, said: "Behind every litre of plasma collected, there are patients and families whose lives depend on these medicines. We have made remarkable progress, with over 825,000 litres of UK plasma collected and thousands of patients treated. But at 23% self-sufficiency for immunoglobulin, we still have a significant way to go. The majority of plasma medicines are still imported, and if that supply is ever disrupted, patients can go without treatments they absolutely rely on."
Plasma can be donated at three specialist donor centres in Birmingham, Reading and Twickenham. The process takes just over an hour, and donors can give plasma as frequently as every two weeks.
