Cameron Arnell (46) first fell ill in November 2009 and within days the father-of-four had slipped into a coma and was battling for his life.
The infection, which affects one in five million people, was so serious that he came within hours of his life-support machine being switched off.
However, one surgeon made a last-ditch attempt at diagnosis and treatment and it saved the former soldier’s life.
However, that was not the end of Mr Arnell’s ordeal. Although back to full physical fitness, he still suffers from the mental side-effects of his illness and his family life was, in his words, ‘torn apart’.
Mr Arnell has now set his sights on the next Paralympics and becoming Jersey’s second athlete to enter the Paralympics after horse-rider Simon Laurens won gold in the dressage in Beijing 2008.
