We are always looking for stories and snippets of information from our membership and we were concerned to receive the following cautionary tale from long-serving Bees fan, Ian Brand, better known as Oldboy TW8 0AW on the GPG.
Ian has been watching the Bees for over 60 years now, sits in the Legends Lounge and has been a loyal and committed member of Bees United for several years – a true Bee!
Here in his own words is his tale:
“I was recently admitted to West Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth, after being found collapsed in my flat by a fellow Bee despite regularly hydrating myself.
Initially, I was in the Acute Medical Unit being treated for Extreme Heat Exhaustion as my temperature on arrival was 40.1° and staff used ice cold towels to save my life, fearing also that I was suffering from sepsis.
I was then transferred to a ward still on the Acute Medical Unit for 4 days. On 2 of those days, I was intravenously treated to rehydrate my body in addition to taking my newly prescribed medication. I was discharged from hospital on the 4th July however I suffered a relapse and had to be readmitted to hospital within 24 hours.
I remained in hospital for another 10 days before another abortive discharge and then finally being discharged on the 18th July 2025.
I am feeling so much better now at home recovering, but I am now awaiting possible surgery on an enlarged prostate which was identified from a recent MRI scan.
I have been informed that the main contributors to my initial admission were;
Side effects to prescribed medication in the extreme weather and my reaction to the extreme heat outside and inside my flat.
I have had a close shave and indeed I am thankful to be alive and fortunately I am now well on the road to recovery.
I would like to thank all my fellow Bees who have sent me messages of support which were greatly appreciated and I am sure assisted in my recovery. I have had a narrow escape which I wanted to share with my fellow BU members.
Given the likelihood of further boiling weather my advice
With projections for future years to get hotter, my fervent advice is to hydrate with water and not alcohol as a couple of wags on the GPG suggested I had done!
Ian Brand
With some assistance from Greville Waterman