Fall from a horse leads to haemochromatosis diagnosis

After a horse riding incident, Sean Carter suffered with backache and chest pain. He went to see his doctor after the fall, who enquired about his colouring.  Confused, Sean asked the doctor if his colour was abnormal. The doctor told him that he had a bronze/grey pallor and that he would conduct a test to investigate.

Due to the doctor’s observations Sean, who was 45 at the time, was diagnosed with Haemochromatosis. 

One indication of haemochromatosis is chronic fatigue, but when Sean experienced tiredness he just thought it came with his age. Other indications include skin pigmentation, abdominal pain, arthritis and diabetes. Many of the symptoms can be found in other disorders. However, when arthritis affects just the first two finger joints there’s a high probability that it is haemochromatosis.

When Sean was first diagnosed his iron levels were very high and he gave 65 pints of blood in just 70 weeks!  However, he has now dramatically reduced his iron levels and he just needs to gives blood a few times a year.

Since Sean’s wife is a carrier of the gene, Sean made sure his four children were tested to see if they had the condition. One of them tested positive, but fortunately he was diagnosed early.

Sean said its incredible how many people he knows who have the disorder.  Since it’s so common he believes that it is important to educate the community