Feeling the benefit

Formerly a more intrepid holidaymaker, who joined the Bond expressly to enjoy HPB’s overseas sites, a routine flu jab 2½ years ago left the ex-company director’s health – and mobility – seriously compromised. “It brought on a condition called Guillain-Barré Syndrome,” he explains, “a disorder where a patient’s immune system goes haywire and attacks the peripheral nervous system. Your chances of getting Guillain-Barré Syndrome after a flu shot are extremely low, but it does happen. And it happened to me.”

Its impact can vary. In worst cases it’s a killer; or you might make a partial recovery; or eventually return to full fitness – which thankfully seems to be the case for Richard. “I’m getting better all the time,” he says, “but it’s a slow process.”

So Richard and wife Irene, a former ward sister, have good reason to be grateful for HPB’s mobility-friendly properties. The couple, pictured here on a recent sojourn at Barnham Broom, have perforce been holidaying closer to home since Richard’s misfortune. “I guess what happened to Richard has made us settle down to UK holidays for a while,” says Irene. “But the standards are just as high as at any site; the managers are brilliant. We like Langton House; in addition to the two properties there adapted for the disabled, we understand that one apartment is already mobility-friendly, with a further six to go. We’ve already booked Langton again.”

“But we’re loving it here,” adds Richard. “I’ve had regular physio, and have been able to make my own way across from our property to the gym, to use the apparatus; a real benefit. And our ground-floor lodge is easily accessible.”