Surrey dad with MS to isolate for six months away from family while undergoing stem cell treatment

• ITV Meridian's Stacey Poole has been speaking exclusively to Martin Stokes about his pioneering treatment.

A man from Surrey who has taken the 'brave' decision to take part in stem cell treatment in a bid to improve his Multiple Sclerosis symptoms will have to spend time in isolation, meaning he won't be able to see his family for six months.

Martin Stokes has spent nearly all of his adult life in chronic pain, and eventually lost the ability to walk properly.

Despite being offered one of the most effective drugs on the market, it only provided Martin with temporary relief and he only regained some of his mobility.

The father-of-one has now opted to try stem cell treatment which will mean undergoing a gruelling schedule of chemotherapy as well as spending six months in isolation to ensure he doesn't pick up any illnesses.

The treatment, known as haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, aims to 'reboot' the immune system, to stop it attacking itself and repair any existing damage.

It uses chemotherapy to wipe out harmful cells and then reset the immune system using stem cells found in your bone marrow.

Martin said: "Quite simply, in four years, I won't be able to walk.

"If I can't walk, I can't live in the house I live in, also being a dad - even though I can't kick a ball around, it's nice to be able to do stuff.

"The object is, you wipe the immune system, you reboot it like a computer, and then because it's an auto-immune disease, the new immune system doesn't have a recollection of it.

"So, if it doesn't remember it, it's not there."

• Martin Stokes discusses leaving his wife and four-year-old daughter for six months while he undergoes treatment.

The treatment will not reverse any damage already done, but it should prevent Martin's symptoms from getting worse.

Speaking about leaving his wife and daughter for six months to go into isolation, Martin added: "This is the option.

"For six months she's going to become a single parent which isn't fun, but after that, she might have a husband who she doesn't have to be a carer for in a few years.

"And she will then have a dad for her daughter as well."

• Martin Stokes has already undergone ten days of treatment

It could take years for Martin's immune system to return to a healthy level and wiping his immune system means his body also won't have any recollection of previous vaccines he's had throughout his lifetime.

"I've been told it's takes a year of your body being re-vaccinated with everything you had from birth.

"So looking at the big picture, it will be two years."

Speaking to ITV Meridian ten days after his treatment began, Martin described the pain as 'unimaginable'.

"I had fevers and shivering, I've never felt so cold in my life. I remember waking up in the night and finding my phone, and just hugging it for the warmth that the battery was giving off.

"It's (treatment) designed to kill everything that will potentially keep you alive.

"If it wasn't for the room and all the systems, you would die.

"Then they come along and give you your stem cells back, and then it's like they've given you another chance at life."

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