Double trouble as couple suffer copycat illness

The husband and wife from Dinnington can’t believe the chain of events that took them both to Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop just weeks apart.

In a series of strange medical coincidences, their patterns of illness were exactly the same. Wayne, aged 34, and Jane, 36, both felt unwell on a Friday, became worse on the Saturday, were admitted to hospital on Sunday and had surgery on the Monday.

“The nurses at the hospital couldn’t believe it,” said office manager Jane. “They said they’d seen nothing like it.”

First to fall ill was civil servant Wayne, who steadily got worse after developing stomach pains. He was struggling to breathe, and Jane rushed him to A&E.

Wayne was so poorly he needed urgent surgery. He had developed a potentially deadly infection.

Wayne began to recover, but then, 10 weeks later, Jane too developed pain in her stomach.

Now recovering at home, Jane said: “We have always been close and like the same things, but we wouldn’t have chosen to have the same illness.”