Australian swimming legend Michael Klim opens on a devastating battle with rare car -immune disease and symptoms that he wishes he had not ignored

Michael Klim has unveiled details about his five -year battle with a rare car – immune disease, which made him unable to walk – and the symptoms he wishes to take more seriously.

The Aussie -swimming legend, 47, was diagnosed with the neurological disorder chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2020.

The former Triple Olympian openly spoke about the challenging diagnosis, so that he lost the ability to walk in just six months and left him bedridden.

He says he did not treat the condition with the gravity it earned when the symptoms first started to appear.

“I neglected many of my symptoms at the beginning and I think that in a very typical male fashion did not wear fast enough,” he said News Corp.

‘So, if something comes out of our chat, I hope it (readers) goes to a doctor, even if the symptoms are just as simple as getting cold feet when you go to bed or numbness in your toes or feet. I have neglected some of them.

Aussie swimming legend Michael Klim has spoken about his chronic health status

Climb was diagnosed with the neurological disorder chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2020

‘I had a great team around me, but something that was brought to me as a athlete was that we pushed a lot of our inconveniences and I kept doing that even in life after sport, which did not really seem to be a long service life in life.

‘Unfortunately I had my heart stop when I lost the ability to walk and I think it took me about two years to accept the fact – or almost, it was as if there was a two -year mourning period of accepting the fact that my physical skills may never be the same, I can never run as a normal person, I will be in danger.

“But finding a new goal in life – I was always very driven and active and very quantitative because I was very opportunistic and attended many things and was involved in many projects.”

CIDP ensures that the body attacks its own tissue – the myelin sheaths that insulate and protect the nerves – causing weakness and lack of feeling in the arms and legs.

Klim says that beating the condition has taught him a lot.

“There was a lot of time of darkness because there is no remedy and you live in a period of uncertainty – not only yourself as a patient, but your entire support network,” he said.

“That was the hardest. Earlier, my injuries – if I had a rotatorm surgeon injury or sprained only – I knew the protocol and knew exactly when I would be back.

“But this has been something different and something new and it certainly taught me a lot of lessons.”

Climb (photo with partner Michelle) says that fighting against the condition has taught him a lot

Klim, 47, remains one of the most popular athletes in the country, although he retired in 2007 from the swimming pool

Klim says that his rare condition has made him more aware of other people and what they might go through.

“Let’s say that 30 percent of people with CIDP can make a complete remission, 30 percent – where I seem to fit at the moment – the rest of their lives continue to stagnate, and then 30 percent of people end up with paralysis, full paralysis or in a wheelchair,” he said.

“Even when I wear my bracket and I am wearing my pants, most people look at me and say,” Gosh, you’re so fit “.

“I have my upper body and still try to take care of myself, but you just don’t know which hardships people are going under it.”