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Anti-freeze mistake was nearly fatal for Calne singer songwriter (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
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Anti-freeze mistake was nearly fatal for Calne singer songwriter
7:00am Sunday 7th March 2010
Singer songwriter Brian Grace, of Calne, is lucky to be alive after accidentally drinking anti-freeze he kept in his campervan last week.
The 60-year-old, of Broken Cross, came close to death after he swallowed a large amount of the toxic liquid on Thursday, and was given brandy as a cure while an antidote was flown in from France to save him.
He said: “I had no idea what I had drunk because it was two-and-a-half months ago that I put the antifreeze in there.
“Apparently it ruins all your organs. I was very lucky.”
Mr Grace, who lives with partner Ronnie Ritchings, mistook the antifreeze for water while the pair were out in Wootton Bassett Thursday morning.
He kept the liquid in the door of his campervan, where he normally keeps a drink, to stop it rolling around in the back.
He said: “I was really thirsty so I asked Ronnie to pass the bottle to me so I could have a drink – it was in a blue water bottle.
“I took two swigs and said ‘that’s awful’. I took another one and it started burning the back of my throat. It was horrendous.”
At the Wootton Bassett doctors’ surgery Mr Grace was told to go to the Great Western Hospital, but he still did not realise how serious the situation could have been.
“We drove there in the campervan,” he said. “And I had a couple of fags on the way. I even wanted to stop off, but Ronnie said no.”
Anti-freeze can cause kidney failure, seizures and blindness, so staff at the hospital in Swindon gave Mr Grace brandy as an antidote.
Mr Grace, who is part Romany gypsy, said: “The staff were absolutely amazing, and I had half a bottle of brandy while I waited.
“I cannot really remember a lot because I was out of it. They could not do enough for me, and they saved my life.”
A spokesman for Great Western Hospital said it was unable to comment due to patient confidentiality.
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Your Say YourGazette
Padfoot, Calne says...
7:24am Mon 8 Mar 10
who dat? wrote:Go without the N.H.S.Then see how we get on.On the whole the NHS do a brilliant job.Yes they are cash strapped but the only people to blame for that is the goverment.
Hilarious story made even funnier by the last line: "A spokesman for Great Western Hospital said it was unable to comment due to patient confidentiality. " That sounds like an ideal job - being paid for doing sweet FA - No Wonder the NHS is in the deep and smelly - sack this waste of space along with all the other non-producers!
Hope you get better soon.
The Maxter, Chippenham says...
12:23pm Tue 9 Mar 10
Singer Brian Grace says he was rushed to hospital after accidentally drinking from a bottle of anti-freeze
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who dat?, Swindon says...
7:27pm Sun 7 Mar 10
That sounds like an ideal job - being paid for doing sweet FA - No Wonder the NHS is in the deep and smelly - sack this waste of space along with all the other non-producers!