A 24-year-old British traveller from Ilford is fighting for his life in a Philippine hospital after contracting a rare and debilitating autoimmune disorder. Gavin Arulnayagam, a digital entrepreneur who had been travelling across Asia for 18 months, developed Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in October.
The rapid-onset condition, which causes the immune system to attack the peripheral nervous system, has left Arulnayagam almost entirely paralysed and reliant on a ventilator to breathe. His family, who have flown from East London to his bedside, now face a staggering financial crisis as medical expenses at the private facility reach approximately £3,000 per day.
The ordeal began two months ago when Arulnayagam reported "weird symptoms" that quickly escalated from minor weakness to total immobility. Friends and family were shocked by the speed of the transition, his friend Salvador Sanchez, who visited him in the intensive care unit, described the horrible sight of the usually energetic 24-year-old unable to speak or move due to a tracheostomy tube in his neck. Recent medical updates revealed that the situation grew even more critical when Arulnayagam suffered a cardiac arrest during his stay. He remains unable to swallow, walk, or support his own neck, and doctors have stated that his only hope for recovery is a prolonged hospital stay to allow his body to heal naturally.
The financial burden has become a secondary crisis for the Arulnayagam family. Due to a lack of travel insurance, the costs of intensive care and constant treatment are proving impossible to manage independently. A specialist medical repatriation flight to return him to the United Kingdom is estimated to cost between £200,000 and £300,000. In response, his friends and brother, Amrith, launched a GoFundMe campaign with a target of £100,000 to assist with the mounting bills. As of December 2025, the campaign has highlighted the vulnerability of young travellers abroad, with Sanchez describing the situation as a "big wake-up call" regarding the necessity of insurance.
Guillain-Barré syndrome is an extremely rare condition, affecting roughly one to two people per 100,000 annually. While the exact cause remains unknown, it is frequently triggered by a viral or bacterial infection, such as the flu or food poisoning, which causes the immune system to misidentify nerve cells as foreign threats.
Although 80% of sufferers are eventually able to walk independently within six months of diagnosis, severe cases like Arulnayagam’s require months of mechanical ventilation and intensive rehabilitation. For now, his family continues to work in shifts to provide the 24-hour care he requires, waiting for the first signs of motor recovery.