'I had no idea I was seriously ill until I drove off the motorway into a tree'
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Dave Whelan has been grumpy and tired for as long as he can remember. He is 46 now, but even as a teenager, he would doze on the sofa after school virtually every day. He can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and would even snore as a baby. It has been a bone of contention for most of his life, but he didn't realise his noisy sleep sounds were the sign of something much more dangerous until he was in a near-fatal accident.The train driver from Liverpool said: "The snoring has had a lot of different impacts on me and my family. From sleeping in separate rooms to allow my partners to get a good sleep, to missing family events due to being tired. My current partner has always been understanding about my being tired and grumpy and has always given me the space I need when particularly exhausted, but there have been occasions where arguments have broken out purely because of my fatigue. I was moody with my kids, easily irritated and could be snappy," Dave, who now lives in Nottingham, explains.
Dave had been to the doctors multiple times about the snoring and tiredness, fearing it was sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes breathing to repeatedly stop and start while during sleep, preventing the body from getting enough oxygen. It can be dangerous and lead to serious complications, including heart damage, arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death. But Dave's concerns were repeatedly dismissed, and he was told the symptoms were due to smoking-induced inflammation of the nasal passage, shift work, allergies, poor diet - and even the incorrect pillow and mattress.Then, in January this year, he crashed into a tree as he left the M1 driving home from work. "Coming off the motorway, there was a car in front of me that suddenly slammed on the brakes. I went to brake and the car didn't seem to respond. I wasn't stopping before I went into the back of the car in front, so I swerved to avoid them. I mounted the kerb and the grass was frosty, so the car wasn't stopping, and I slid headfirst into a tree. The next thing I know, I'm surrounded by airbags and I can hear a voice asking me if I'm okay.".
