Carpenter Ludwig Ratteray is a prime example of why people should seek medical attention as soon as they begin to suffer unexplainable prolonged symptoms.

The young father of two had silently suffered swollen feet for some time before he finally mentioned it to his wife Sonia.

On her insistence, he went to a doctor, and then onto hospital for a series of tests. And while in hospital, aged only 29-years-old, he suffered a massive stroke that left him paralysed.

He had been suffering from Nephrotic Syndrome for some time, which is a form of kidney disease. Unbeknown to Luddy, he had been suffering kidney failure and had left it far too late to seek help.

There began his painful journey to rebuild his life, and relearn what he had known for so long. He had to learn to walk and talk again, and learn how to take care of himself.

With two small boys aged three and seven, his wife Sonia had the equivalent of three children to care for when he was finally allowed out of hospital after almost four months.

Sonia said: "It was just like having a baby again. We had to teach him everything all over. After he came out of hospital we got him enrolled in English classes, he had physiotherapy, speech therapy - the whole thing.

"We can look back now and laugh. But it was hard at the time. The funny thing was when he was trying to tell me things, he couldn't explain what he needed to say. It was frustrating for me, but it must have been even more frustrating for him."

After about a year, Luddy finally got back on his feet and was almost back to his old self.

But he had to continue with medication and constant tests, and was then told that he would need dialysis. His kidney failure was getting worse and would soon reach chronic stages.

The couple decided to take a cruise before dialysis officially begun, but once they returned to the Island, he started a two-and-a-half year stint of regular dialysis sessions at the unit in Point Finger Road. He was working at BCM McAlpine as a carpenter and driving a taxi at weekends, managing to fit his dialysis sessions in around his jobs.

And it was while he was working in his cab that his call finally came to say a suitable kidney had been found from a cadaver donor.

Sonia said: "When he first started on dialysis, we were anxious that the call was going to come any day day. His bag was packed, we had the tickets and everything else we needed - but after a while you have to forget about it and get on with your normal life.

"The day the call did come, I was at Horseshoe Bay with my children and a friend."

Sonia said the first she realised something was up was when her father arrived at the beach in his usual non-beach clothing to tell her Luddy had got his call.

She added: "I went to our house in Somerset to get the tickets and left the boys with my friend on the beach.

"I was full of sand and just grabbed a plastic bag and put hardly anything in it. I was told Luddy had already gone to the airport. He had very little time."

Dialysis nurse Marianne Herbert said she remembered calling Luddy with the good news nine years ago.

She said: "We had about an hour to get him on a flight, but we couldn't find him."

She said when he did finally return her urgent call, he said he had been unable to get in touch because he had to drop a passenger off first.

As his wife could not immediately be found, Luddy's mother travelled to the airport with him, and on to Boston.

In the meantime, Sonia was breaking every speed limit in order to get to the airport from Somerset, even calling Police to ask for an escort on the way.

She added: "When I got there, the flight had not gone, but they had closed the gates and wouldn't let me on.

"I pleaded with the lady, but she said 'no'. I had to go home. I felt terrible. I felt sorry for Luddy's mother because after Luddy went in for the transplant she was on her own."

Sonia said she awoke the next day and was about to call Boston to find out how her husband was, but she never got a chance.

She added: "I got a phone call at home and it was Luddy. He asked me to take his medication when I went that day.

"I said 'I thought you were supposed to have the operation yesterday' and he told me he had already had it.

"I couldn't believe how well he sounded. I got there that day and he said he felt fine."

Luddy went from strength to strength. Because of the stroke, doctors were keen to watch for other things, but he was on the road to recovery in no time at all. After three months in Boston, he was able to return to Bermuda.

And it was not long before he was back at work again.

Luddy has suffered no rejections of the kidney, however, in 1996 he had to undergo massive surgery again, this time for a quadruple heart by-pass. Again, he bounced back.

Sonia said: "I call him my Timex. He just keeps on going."