‘I was in hell!’ BBC The Apprentice star opens up on paralysis that ‘changed the course of his life’
Apprentice star Tre Lowe has revealed how a medical emergency at age 15 left him temporarily paralysed and changed the course of his life.
The musician, best known for his 2000s hit “Body Groove”, suffered an overdose of medication during an appendectomy as a teenager.
The traumatic experience left him paralysed for about an hour, but the effects would last much longer.
Speaking to GB News, he said: “I was given an overdose of a drug which paralyzed me twice in succession and literally changed the course of my life.
“Yeah, it wasn’t easy for many years, but I love the person who it forced me to be in the end.”
While the paralysis itself was temporary, it triggered a cascade of ongoing health problems that would plague him for years.
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The medical emergency marked the beginning of what he described as a “horrific” period in his life.
“For many years, I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I just knew I had been given this overdose. My body wasn’t quite right. I had all of these different conditions realisation, tinnitus, head pressure and it was hell for a while.
“It was awful because I didn’t know what it was. I was in and out of hospital. I was told that there was nothing wrong with me. Essentially, I looked completely normal, but I was anything but normal.
“It was crazy because one minute I’d be on top of the pops, like with the Spice Girls, etc. the next minute I’m in hospital having my 10th MRI scan, and you can only imagine what that does to a young mind.
“But eventually I discovered for myself because I had to. What was going on with me? I almost became a neurologist or a doctor. I had to really understand myself.
“That was before the days of Google, in many ways, that’s what made it harder.
“There was no way to check, so if doctors said there was nothing wrong, I had to literally wait online.
“I discovered someone online who had my symptoms, and from there I learned that what happened was pretty much a post-traumatic stress response to an overdose, which paralyzed me.”
The pain from his condition was so severe that Lowe confessed he used to consider suicide.
His symptoms were particularly devastating for a musician.
“The last thing you want is an issue of your ears,” he explained about his tinnitus.
The derealization created “a dream-like sensation” that was “horrific”.