A GAVIN and Stacey star has shared their terrifying symptoms after being struck down with a life-threatening illness.
The fan-favourite actor recounted his scary ordeal ahead of the final ever episode on Christmas Day.
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Larry Lamb caught the illness after he travelled to Senegal to raise awareness about child poverty.
However, when he returned to the UK he started to develop a severe fever that lasted for months.
Always in good health, the mystery health problem eventually left him deaf in one ear, while mildly in another – and developing tinnitus.
Larry, 77, explained: “It’s been catastrophic. I’m famous for never being ill. But I went into complete physical meltdown. At one point I felt like I was dying. But the real shock was when I realised I couldn’t hear properly.”
The Gavin and Stacey actor eventually learned he had contracted malaria – a potentially deadly disease that is spread to humans through mosquitoes.
What are the symptoms of malaria?
Malaria has a host of unpleasant symptoms which also can be brought on by a variety of other issues sometimes causing confusion for doctors.
Symptoms typically take between ten days to four weeks to emerge and can in some cases lie dormant for several months.
Common early symptoms of the life-threatening illness include:
- Shaking
- Chills
- Fever
- Sweating
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Anaemia
- Muscle pain
- Convulsions
- Blood in stools
After the early stage symptoms, the condition can become rapidly life-threatening especially if the person infected is pregnant, elderly or very young and is not treated immediately.
Within just hours, the red blood cells cannot carry enough oxygen to the major organs, leaving a person weak and faint.
It can also cause cerebral malaria, where the brain swells, which in turn leads to brain damage and seizures.
The kidneys and liver can also being to fail and a fluid can build up on the lungs meaning it is difficult to breathe.
And if any of these complications crop up and they are not treated immediately, they can be fatal.
Larry continued to the Express: “We were in and out within a week. Back home in north London I felt fine, so stopped taking the Malarone pills.”
He said he “felt as if [he] could die”
Reflecting on his ordeal, Larry added: “It was like the worst hangover I’d ever had.
“For a few days I had a fever which caused me to sweat and then cool again. I couldn’t sleep – I didn’t have the strength to do anything.
“It was hellish. If I was sitting with two or three friends, it was impossible to follow the conversation. I suddenly understood why people with hearing loss can become isolated.
“It was such a strain that I couldn’t always be bothered to keep asking people to repeat themselves. It’s easier to tune out, so that’s what you do.”
Gavin and Stacey’s Best Moments
With the news that the show is set to make an exciting return to screens, let’s take a look at some of the comedy programme’s biggest and best moments…
- Smithy and Rudi’s American Boy rap – No one will ever forget when James Corden and Sheridan Smith rapped perfectly word for word the Kanye West and Estelle hit American Boy as they walked across the car park on the phone to Gavin.
- Pam’s Vegetarian faux pas – Despite loving a cheesburger, Pam found herself caught up in a web of unexpected lies when she claimed to be Vegetarian. She is forced to keep up the secret throughout the entire show and uses hubby Mick to help her scoff meat. She is later rumbled when Stacey catches her in the act as she scoffs ham in the kitchen. Stacey says to her: “Is that ham, Pam!?… “I’ve seen you, Pam. A scotch egg here, a bit of bacon there, putting those regular sausages into the Linda McCartney box”.
- THAT fishing trip – It remains one of the biggest mysteries in Gavin and Stacey history as to just exactly what did happen on the ill-fated fishing trip. Bryn appears to be hiding a secret as to an occurance between him and his nephew Jason which has left relations fractures. Ness’ on-off boyfriend, Dave, is the only other person to know the whole truth. Bryn did appear to allude to him and Jason lying together naked to keep warm as he said to Dave: “We’re going to have this out, once and for all, man to man, you may know what happened, David, but you don’t know why it happened! It was freezing cold, it was! And when you are that cold…”
- Islands in the Stream – No one can ever forget the classic Karaoke performance of Islands in the Stream. Nessa and Bryn performed the track in front of all their nearest and dearest. It saw the whole pub burst into some line-dancing as they enjoyed a boozy night out.
- The Xmas special proposal – In 2019, fans were left overjoyed when the show made a comeback but it ended on the ultimate cliffhanger. Nessa asked Smithy if she would marry him as she finally laid bare her feelings for him. Fans were gutted as the show then cut straight to the credits as they never found out just how Smithy answered. Will all be revealed in the brand new episode?