A man who has been left relying on walking sticks after being diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) at the age of 21 – three months after landing his dream job in Germany – says he did not understand the seriousness of the diagnosis at first, thinking “maybe it was a German word”.

Shakeem Hart, 28, from Nottingham, had moved to Nuremberg for an internship at athletic clothing giant Adidas in February 2018 and had been out hiking with friends in nearby hills when he noticed one of his feet was dragging along the floor.

Doctors confirmed he was suffering from MS but because he did not speak the language, Shakeem did not grasp the gravity of the situation.

When he returned to the UK in October 2018, he began suffering relapses which have become progressively worse and mean he now struggles to walk and swallow despite having to take 12 tablets a day.

Between relapses, Shakeem has managed to continue working and has saved £40,000, which he plans to put towards an experimental stem cell treatment costing around £120,000, which is not available on the NHS.

His friends and family have set up a GoFundMe page in a bid to help raise the extra funds.

Shakeem with his best friend Kevin who he met working at Poundland (Collect/PA Real Life)

Shakeem, a pet care buyer at Poundland, is worried that if his condition gets worse, he will not be able to work, and if this happens, “what can I really offer to the world?”.

“My career has always been super important to me, because where I come from, it’s the only way to get out, really,” Shakeem told PA Real Life.

“I really value working and if I can’t do that, then what am I supposed to do any more?

“It’s great to be alive, but it’s not really living if I’m just stuck in my head all the time, it just feels like I’m trapped in this body that I shouldn’t be.

“Like my mind feels so alive and young, but my body…

“I can get to my car with my sticks, which is about 10 metres, but any further and my legs start to tremble.”

Shakeem was diagnosed three months after landing his dream job in Germany (Collect/PA Real Life)

Shakeem remembers having health problems as a child, but despite many doctor visits he was not diagnosed with MS until much later.

“I went through a lot of abuse as a child, so people put it down to malnutrition and a lack of vitamins,” he said.

“I remember going to the doctor’s and, because I was also suffering from depression and anxiety, I remember him saying, ‘I think it’s in your head’.”

When he was 15, Shakeem moved to Birmingham to live with his grandmother, Marcia Gordon, 63, and has remained estranged from his parents.

In 2016, he attended Coventry University to pursue his dream of working in the fashion industry and it could not have gone better.

Shakeem moved to Nuremberg for an internship at athletic clothing giant Adidas in February 2018 (Collect/PA Real Life)

He landed an internship with Adidas in Germany and deferred his second year, which he described as one of the best times in his life.

“I was working my dream job and achieving all my goals and I was doing really well – getting a lot of praise from my university,” he said.

It all came crashing down when Shakeem went for a hike with friends and noticed he was not walking properly.

“I had a close group of friends there [in Germany] and we would go on trips to the mountains,” he said.

“I remember one side of my foot was dragging along the floor when I was walking”.

Shakeem with his friends in Prague (Collect/PA Real Life)

The then 21-year-old visited a specialist in Nuremberg where scans revealed Shakeem had multiple sclerosis, but the gravity of the situation was lost in translation.

“I didn’t really speak German, just a few phrases, because my work was in English,” he said.

“I remember the doctor saying, ‘You have multiple sclerosis’, but I didn’t really understand what he was saying.

“I thought maybe it was a German word or something – it’s not like you are taught about it at school.

“But he was like, ‘I think you should go home’.”

Shakeem spent the better part of six months in bed and unable to walk (Collect/PA Real Life)

Shakeem returned to the UK where doctors confirmed he had MS, a lifelong degenerative disease which affects the central nervous system, making it difficult for the brain to send messages to the rest of the body.

There are a wide range of symptoms including vision problems, muscle spams, mobility problems, bladder and bowel problems, speech and swallowing difficulties, and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, according to the NHS.

In Shakeem’s case, the chronic illness is relapsing, meaning his health can deteriorate rapidly at any moment for several months before he partially recovers, although never fully.

“With relapsing MS, you have an attack and then you recover like 80%,” he said.

“I was just so determined to get my life back.”

After two “depressing” months back in the UK, Shakeem applied for another internship at Karl Lagerfeld in Amsterdam and was successful.

Shakeem cannot walk without walking sticks (Collect/PA Real Life)

But the disease reared its ugly head and he was forced to return home again.

“I called my boss and said, ‘I don’t think I can come into work this week’… it felt like I had a heart attack or something,” he said.

“I was pretty scared at that point.”

Shakeem said “everything changed” after he returned to the UK in 2019 to complete his university degree in fashion and business.

“When I came back that’s when everything started going downhill,” he said.

“That’s when I started using the walking sticks because I couldn’t even walk to the shops on my lunch.

Shakeem struggles to swallow but has to take 12 tablets a day (Collect/PA Real Life)

“I was asking myself, ‘What can I really offer to the world?’

“And I think the reality kind of hit home that this thing was probably going to kill me.”

But Shakeem did not give up and after graduating in 2020, he was offered a remote job as a buyer at The Works.

Early last year, the illness returned and he spent the better part of six months in bed and unable to walk.

“It’s just bonkers the amount of things that it can affect,” he said.

“I was just mentally at rock bottom.”

Shakeem went for a hike with friends and noticed he was not walking properly (Collect/PA Real Life)

Again, Shakeem waited for the storm to pass before returning to work in October 2022, this time for Aldi and more recently Poundland, where he met his now best friend Kevin Jones.

So far, he has endured eight relapses and cannot walk without the help of his walking sticks.

Desperate to stop the disease from progressing, Shakeem found a private clinic in London offering a treatment called haematopoietic stem cell transplantation which could help halt the disease’s progression.

The 28-year-old has managed to save £40,000 since graduating but the treatment is estimated to cost around £120,000 depending on how he responds.

Shakeem’s friends and family have launched a GoFundMe to help him cover the costs.

Shakeem has endured eight relapses since being diagnosed in 2018 (Collect/PA Real Life)

“I try not to look at the donations because I find it quite triggering to see all these people supporting me,” he said, holding back tears.

“The support has been immense and I’m just so grateful.

“I’ve just felt very alone for so long and it kind of just shows that I’m not really alone and that there are people who care and want me to get better.”

He hopes to one day be able to help other people with MS.

To support Shakeem, visit: www.gofundme.com/f/82pmq-hsct-stem-cell-treatment-for-multiple-sclerosis.