“Running Not Only Keeps Me In Shape But I Find It A Useful Tool As A Traveller...”

British adventurer, former navy midshipman, tv presenter and writer ben fogle is contemplating one of his less enthralling experiences when he chats to outdoor fitness & adventure – the time he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

- Rob Kemp

At first I thought it was just a cold, but I soon realised it was much more. I had a raspy, watery sound to my breath,” says Ben Fogle. “It was obvious there was a problem with my chest as I was struggling to breathe. It was frightening.” Fogle’s run-in with an ailment that most of us associate with old age left him more wary of the symptoms of the illness and keen to ensure he keeps himself fit enough to fight off anything, even infection.

“I was pretty shocked to hear that I had pneumonia as I had no idea it affected people my age. I was under 40 at the time and physically in peak condition, but I had been ill a few months before and my immune system was weakened as a result.”

FOGLE’S FEARS

It’s not the first time his love of adventure has left Fogle reeling from the consequences of coming into contact with unseen critters. The immune system that took a pounding from pneumonia was initially attacked whilst filming in the jungles of Peru.

“I contracted a flesh-eating disease called leishmaniasis – which is spread by bites from sand flies that live in jungle trees, ironically enough.” At first Fogle thought he’d caught malaria but when he was referred to London’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases as a skin ulcer on his arm failed to clear up, the rare infection was confirmed and treated with drugs before it could spread to his lymph nodes. “It’s one of the reasons why I don’t relish expeditions into the jungle,” he explains. “Of all the environments I spend time in it’s the one I enjoy the least of all. It’s a dark, oppressive place where everything either has a sting or a bite to it and the 100 percent humidity means nothing ever gets dry.”