A British fitness fan has been left ‘locked’ inside his own body after developing a rare disorder that has left his entire body paralysed.
The only muscles Oli Coppock, 32, can still move are the ones in his eyes, allowing him to communicate via blinking.
The digital marketer, from Warrington, began to feel ‘dizzy and fatigued’ in May this year. He suffered a cardiac arrest and soon afterwards became unresponsive.
Doctors found he’d developed hydrocephalus – fluid on the brain, which usually responds well to a procedure to drain the liquid.
However, the condition had a catastrophic effect for Oli, who was soon paralysed and unable to eat, talk and move.
Oli Coppock was an active gym-goer and DJ until May this year, when he developed devastating locked-in syndrome
His girlfriend Beth, 33, said: ‘He can wiggle his fingers a little bit and can shrug his shoulders sometimes to say no.
Oli is also relying on a tracheostomy to support his breathing and is being fed through a tube.
His condition is known as locked-in syndrome, which is used to describe diseases that damage the brainstem to such an extent the body is left completely paralysed.
His girlfriend Beth, 33, said: ‘He can wiggle his fingers a little bit and can shrug his shoulders sometimes to say no.
‘Everything else is fine — he can still understand everything I can say to him.
‘If I say “Oli do you remember when we went to Benalmádena?” and he blinks.
‘I know that he doesn’t like bananas so I will ask him and then he shrugs his shoulders to say no.
‘Or if I ask him if he likes steak, then he will blink.
‘It’s like he’s on life support because he’s unable to do anything for himself apart from blinking, listening and looking. His only entertainment is visitors and listening to music.’
Oli had previously been diagnosed with a slow-growing brain tumour, but recovered well from his treatment
Oli’s ordeal began in the middle of last year, when he was given the shock diagnosis of a brain tumour.
However, the cancer was slow-growing, and after an operation to remove the tumour and six weeks of radiotherapy, he was recovering well and went back to the gym to continue his fitness routine.
‘He just bounced straight back,’ said Beth. ‘Everything was completely back to normal — he was walking, was really active and was doing some DJing as part of his side hustle.
‘We even went to Spain again and he was doing pull-ups in the park.’
But in May this year, Oli began suffering with headaches, dizziness and fatigue.
Initially, doctors turned him away, but after his family begged for medical support, Oli was admitted to hospital.
It was then discovered he had fluid on the brain. Within a day, he’d suffered from a cardiac arrest and was unresponsive.
Oli has since been diagnosed with locked-in syndrome.
‘He came out of the surgery and we thought he was like a warrior and that was it and started to move on with our lives,’ said his girlfriend Beth.
Beth is ‘heartbroken’, as she thought they could ‘move on’ with their lives after the tumour was removed.
She said: ‘It’s just heartbreaking. I’ve been with him through the brain tumour diagnosis and when he was told it had grown and if he should have surgery or not.
‘He was told that there was a chance he would be unable to breathe or need a tracheostomy but we were told all of these things could have been temporary.
‘We also never thought it would all happen to him.
‘He came out of the surgery and we thought he was like a warrior and that was it and started to move on with our lives.’
Beth met Oli on dating app Hinge four years ago and described him as ‘a lovely person’ with ‘lots of friends’.
‘You couldn’t try and said a bad word about him,’ she said.
‘He was the nicest person you would ever meet, that’s what everyone has said. He’s just great.
‘The most upsetting thing is me is that I say to him “Oli are you alright” and he blinks to say yes, that he is okay – even though he isn’t.’
Oli’s family and friends are now worried he will be discharged from hospital and will have to go into a care home for the ‘rest of his life.’
They have now set up a Go Fund Me page to pray for Oli’s rehabilitation, with the aim that going in a private facility would help him get better in the future.
Beth said: ‘The doctors haven’t said it but we are worried he’s going to end up in a care home when he needs to be least given a chance to have rehabilitation.
‘He shouldn’t just be left in a care home at 32-years-old for the rest of his life.
‘We don’t even know when he will be discharged – it could be soon or it could be in months so we are living each day, day to day.’
