Marcus’s Story

Fus Marcus Horton thought he had an Army career for life, but Bell’s palsy had other plans for him. When Marcus was struck down with Bell’s palsy he found the only way to get help was to become an ‘expert’ on the condition and convince doctors and medics to give him what he needed.

Before Bell’s palsy I was a very outgoing, confident and physically fit soldier in the 1^st Battalion the Royal Welsh, doing one of the most physically demanding jobs in the army. Sniper.

I became really ill in January 2017. I had a severe headache and the doctor said I had an infection in my skull. I wasn’t eating – I had no food for four days. On the Friday I was due to go out on exercise with the Army, then again on the Monday, but I wasn’t really feeling up to it so I asked my platoon sergeant if I could just come out on Monday if I was feeling better, and he said yes. Luckily my wife came up to see me in camp on the weekend and I literally saw my face drop in front of me on the Sunday. She rushed me straight to hospital. We were doing a bit of research on the way and came to the conclusion it was either a stroke or Bell’s palsy. The hospital didn’t really know what was going on and by the time I got diagnosed which was five days later I’d missed the 72-hour time frame where I could have had steroids. They sent me home with nothing, except an appointment for my eye, which was about two months later at the same hospital.

Before Bell’s palsy

Then I was left to fend for myself for nine months. The Army didn’t know what to do or where to send me. As soon as I got home, I started researching everything. The Army didn’t do anything for me because when you look at the statistics for Bell’s palsy it clears up within three months in most cases. I had complications; synkinesis, crocodile tears and contracture. I did some research then, about acupuncture and Botox. I had to go to the Army and say this is what I want, this is what I should have had. Eventually they pulled their trousers up and started doing things for me.

Bell’s palsy struck

The depression was instant, within a month of diagnosis. Because I was depressed, I was struggling to go out and that’s when anxiety kicked in as well. Image is everything these days and people don’t understand, my speech had changed as well as my image. I ask people what they are looking at, and what do you think I’ve got and most say I think you’ve had a stroke, how old are you? I say I’m 30 (31 now). I say no I haven’t had a stroke I’ve got Bell’s palsy and people are shocked, they say, ‘What’s that?’ and then I have to explain.

After Bell’s palsy

I didn’t like having photos taken and couldn’t be around a large group of people as I started to feel out of place, and as if people were judging me on my facial appearance. My wife was pushing me to do things that were normal before Bell’s, but were tough to do now, i.e. going out on a date night and staying out that extra bit longer to try and stretch my comfort zone. My confidence has completely gone, I’ve lost the hearing in my right ear and lost vision in my right eye which adds to the stress as I can’t hear some conversations I am engaging in with people. So sometimes I nod but I haven’t heard a word they have said. Earlier treatment would have stopped my eyesight from deteriorating. It’s all added to the stress and strain of normal working life. Getting up and going to work and doing daily things is more of a challenge than it used to be as Bell’s makes it that little bit harder.

Months turned into years

As the months turned into years, I needed to ask myself: “Am I able to stay and do the job that I am doing?” because it was quite a demanding role. I sat down with the seniors and the medical chain of command and they came to the decision that a medical discharge would be more appropriate because I wouldn’t want to do anything else in the Army. They had to let me go. It’s been rough. I was medically discharged on 10 Oct 2018. The Army doctors didn’t know how to deal with it, and they should have researched it. I want people to be more aware of the condition and know how to deal with.

I live in South Wales in Burry Port. I get Botox now in Swansea, after being assessed in Cardiff. My specialist plastic surgeon gave me the first dose of Botox but I was shocked because he injected in my good side to try and match my bad side. He said he doesn’t think it will get any better than it is now. He offered an operation, but explained the risks. After chatting with my wife, I decided it’s not worth the risk, it could make things worse.

Before and After

I also went for specialist therapy in Southampton where they measured my face and made me raise my brows and try and smile. They said my face only moves 25-30% which hasn’t improved. They gave me an exercise plan and massages, but it isn’t really helping.

I was going to be referred to Speech and Language therapy because I really struggled to say my b’s and p’s, but in the end, I thought I’m not getting anywhere here so I went on YouTube, typed in ‘Speech and Language therapy’ and found some videos telling me what to do. I taught myself how to speak properly again. The only time my eye will close properly is when I yawn which is actually synkinesis. Also, I grew in confidence by having a beard as it masked my paralysis to an extent, and some people couldn’t even tell.

It’s horrible, there’s a lot of things that come with it, it’s not just your face. It’s the elements, the weather, the sun, the wind, absolutely everything batters my eye, so I have to wear sunglasses. It’s explaining to the kids although they’ve been great anyway and they know the score, but it’s a change for them. Everything has an effect on you one way or the other. My wife and I had planned to get married in April 2018, but because there was that slight chance that it would go away, and also because I wasn’t comfortable with the way I was looking, we decided to push the wedding back to October. At least then I would know if it was going to be better or not. But I got told that it wouldn’t be better before the wedding, so we just kept to October and we cracked on and got married.

Getting married Oct 18

With the Army GP I had to go and tell them what I wanted because nothing was being done. I got out of the Army in October 2018 so now see my GP at home in Wales. They haven’t sent me anywhere else to help with the healing process though, because my mentality now is: there is nothing anyone else can do, I’ve tried everything, so there’s no need to ask for anything else. I’ve decided that if it’s not going to get any better, and it’s not going to get any worse, then I don’t need any more help.

I didn’t know anyone else with Bell’s palsy but now someone I know has got it and I am offering them support. I’ve never been so clued up on an illness in all my life. Me and my wife researched for months and months. I’ve decided I would rather live with it now. It sucks because it ended my career, I was a lifer, and I wanted to be in for at least 20 years. I feel unsure what to do with my life now.