Athlete and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Greg Rutherford‘s fiancée has recalled running red lights to get him to A&E after he suffered a sudden allergic reaction and began “clawing at his skin”.
The British track and field athlete’s other half urgently drove him to hospital out of fear he “would stop breathing” after she was told by 999 to expect a 40-minute wait for an ambulance.
The blogger took to Instagram to detail the terrifying ordeal and how she watched as Rutherford went into a drugged-like state before being “pumped full of steroids and antihistamines” in A&E.
Recalling the incident, she told her Instagram followers: “Had quite literally the scariest time of my life yesterday.
“Was enjoying a lovely roast at a friends’ house with the kids, Greg was at home because he’d been for a run and he text to say he was having an allergic reaction to something and felt itchy.
“I didn’t think much of it until he rang me screaming two minutes later. And I mean SCREAMING.
“He shouted ‘YOU NEED TO GET HERE NOW’ and so I drove back to our house while calling an ambulance, terrified I was about to get home and find him not breathing.
“999 said it would take 40 minutes, but that’s another issue to discuss for another day. Anyway I ran in the house found Greg there again, screaming,” she continued.
“Acting like one of those people you see in videos where they’ve taken bath salts. He was clawing at his skin and just screaming. Repeatedly.
“He ran to our car and while I rang 999 again to say I’d have to take him, we had to run every red light and I had to focus on not crashing while he screamed and tried to grab the wheel.
“He was delirious and I looked like I was kidnapping him. I was on the phone to the 999 call handler and the poor girl just kept saying, ‘OK, yeah he doesn’t sound good, please be safe but hurry’”.
She added: “I threw him out at A&E, parked and when I got there they told me they’d sent him through to Resus - I think mainly because he was a 6ft 3 bloke acting like a psychopath and didn’t want to scare anyone.
“They pumped him full of steroids and antihistamines and it seemed to work pretty much immediately. Thankfully by the time I got there he’d stopped screaming and raking himself.”
The former Olympian was discharged just three hours later from hospital without a definitive explanation to what happened, although they believe he may have developed a sudden nut allergy.
Susie added: “The hospital recommended we get him tested, but said it could have also been viral. I appreciate rashes can appear with a viral illness, but his body went mad. The doctor who suggested the viral thing hadn’t seen how Greg had been on arrival.
“I can’t explain how much pain he was in. This is a bloke who shrugs off a grumbling appendix.”
She then asked followers to get in touch if they have experienced anything similar.
The couple, who met in 2012, have welcomed three children together, Milo, Rex and Daphne.
They were due to marry earlier this year after postponing their big day due to the pandemic, but delayed their plans after the death of a close family member.
