Olympian Greg Rutherford rushed to hospital 'screaming and raking at his skin' as fiancee left fearing he'd die
7 August 2023, 14:55 | Updated: 7 August 2023, 15:02
Ex-Olympian Greg Rutherford was rushed to hospital while screaming in agony and clawing at his skin.
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The ex-Strictly Come Dancing contestant appeared to have suffered an allergic reaction as his panicked fiancee Susie Verrill raced him to medics on Sunday.
Posting her horror on Instagram, she said Rutherford, 36, texted her to say he had got home after a run but was feeling itchy before he called her 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," she said.
"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.
"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'."
Rutherford, who took gold in the long jump during the 2012 London Olympics, was taken to A&E and then pumped with steroids and antihistamines which had an immediate effect.
The athlete was discharged three hours later but it is still unclear what happened to him.
He does not believe he had eaten or drank anything different to usual, though they wonder if he has developed a nut allergy.
"The hospital recommended we get him tested, but said it could have also been viral," she said.
"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."
Susie has asked for help from her followers, asking if they have suffered something similar.
The couple, who first met in 2012, have three children.
They have been engaged since 2019 but had to postpone recent wedding plans because a relative died.
