My accidental diagnosis led to a new career: Daniel's story

After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis by accident, Daniel’s life changed entirely. Here, he tells us about how he turned the unexpected news from a negative into a positive.

I'm Daniel, a 31-year-old junior doctor who also lives with MS – a rare combination.

Let me take you back to the beginning. I was diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis in early 2015, by accident!

How is this possible? Well, when working as a diagnostic radiographer in Edinburgh, I opted to partake in clinical research, which involved an MRI scan of my head. Unsuspectingly, a lesion was found, and the rest is history…

My life turned upside down on that fateful day. Completely lost, I had nobody to turn to, nobody who understood my ongoing trauma, and what seemed a lifetime of uncertainty to come. At only 23-years-old, I had seemingly lost everything overnight.

Unable to cope, I became reclusive, concealed my diagnosis and lost touch with friends in the process. I began drinking heavily as a coping mechanism and long story short, slowly became a person I did not like, recognise, or want to be.

As time went on, I slowly observed myself falling deeper into a state of desperation. I realised fast that momentous change was required if I were to pick myself up and rebuild my life. With the support of my family and girlfriend I made a promise that I would turn things around and make something good of this.

I began asking questions of myself. Where can I channel my energy to achieve something beyond my expectations? Where can I prove that this illness will not dictate the direction in which I take my life? I worked relentlessly in finding purposefulness.

With the thought of one day getting hands-on with the disease which so cruelly derailed my life, I made the audacious decision to leave my career entirely and retrain as a doctor. This was a gruelling experience, made worse with the pandemic. Intense workloads tested me to my limits, inducing fatigue like I’ve never known. Nonetheless, against the odds, I graduated in 2021.

My MS diagnosis was something that has taken years to fully come to terms with but now, with this new perspective, I feel I genuinely have the ability to relate and empathise with patients in a way that others perhaps would struggle to. 

I write this with aim of spreading positivity and showing that MS is not the end of the road. There is still plenty to give. If I could give any single piece of advice to somebody in a similar position to myself, it is keep living. Follow your dreams. Don’t ever let this hold you back. MS pushed me to get up and make the impossible possible. This illness has made me stronger than I ever believed was possible, and I’m not stopping here. 

You can read more on Daniel's Instagram account, @the.ms.doctor