Northern beaches man reveals how a tick gave him exercise and meat allergies

A Sydney man has revealed how his heart stopped beating for 27 minutes after a tick bite led to life-threatening collapses, as well as exercise and meat allergies.

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Father of three Rad Benicky was an active sportsman who played ice-hockey and walked his dog daily in a beautiful national park near his northern beaches home.

But then he suddenly and mysteriously began suffering from life-threatening collapses, where his heart would stop.

It took a chance encounter with a doctor in a small NSW country hospital to uncover why.

Rad Benicky out the front of the bushes at the back of his home in Belrose. Picture: Adam Yip / Manly Daily

He had developed two deadly allergies — to exercise and meat — caused by a tick bite.

Mr Benicky, said living in Belrose and being so close to a national park, he had suffered more than 50 tick bites.

His normal routine was to remove the ticks with tweezers and carry on. It’s now recommended that you freeze a tick while it’s still attached.

As time went on, Mr Benicky, 50, noticed that when he got new tick bites he would feel quite unwell, and would have severe lower back and leg pain for up to a week.

After collapsing he did not link the incidents to ticks — and neither did the five specialists whose care he was under at Royal North Shore Hospital.

One of the ticks that was recently removed from a patient at Mona Vale Hospital. Picture: Adam Yip / Manly Daily

In fact, they had no idea what was wrong with him, even though he spent weeks in hospital after each incident and they had given him every test they could think of.

“It was scary,” said Mr Benicky, who a few times collapsed on the ice rink while playing ice hockey.

“It got to the point where I was getting anxious about going somewhere because I would be trying to work out whether an ambulance would get to me or not if something happened.

“I couldn’t work out what was triggering the collapses.

“Each one was life threatening.”

Then came the traumatic moment Mr Benicky collapsed on the footpath in Wagga Wagga and his heart stopped for 27 minutes.

Luckily he was on a trip with his wife Vanessa, 54.

“My heart stopped for 27 minutes. I died that day,” he said. “If it wasn’t for my wife I wouldn’t be here.

Royal North Shore Hospital. Picture: (AAP Image / Julian Andrews).

“She knew that doctors at Royal Shore Hospital had given me every test they had and had not found anything wrong with my heart. That’s what she told the paramedic and so he kept going.”

Incredibly, the doctor he saw when he woke up in the internsive care unit at the local hospital had seen someone else with similar symptoms who was also from the northern beaches.

The cause was a tick bite.

Before each collapse Mr Benicky had eaten meat and was exercising or had just been exercising. Unknown to him that combination was potentially fatal.

More than 1000 people on the northern beaches — a well-known tick hotspot — have been diagnosed with mammalian meat allergy due to the parasite.

Others have developed mystery tick-borne illnesses, similar to that of Lyme disease, found in other countries.

An example of a paralysis tick.

Mr Benicky believes he developed a myriad of health issues from ticks.

It has been three years since he nearly died in Wagga Wagga and he has fought hard to regain his health.

Initially, taking a few steps would result in him unable to get out of bed for days.

He said a strict diet aimed at healing his gut and a clean lifestyle meant he had made great strides and was now in the healthy range for histamine levels, which were previously going haywire whenever he exercised.

Recent blood tests have shown that the level of the protein alpha gal, which shows his sensitivity to meat, has also fallen from 13 to 0.76.

There is new tick research being carried out at Northern Beaches Hospital. Picture: Adam Yip / Manly Daily

Mr Benicky is now also able to walk long distances and is hopeful of getting back to 100 per cent fitness.

He even hopes to head back out onto the ice rink soon.

He said the new tick research at Northern Beaches Hospital would help raise awareness about ticks — and tick-related illnesses.

“The more doctors and people who are aware of tick-related symptoms the better,” Mr Benicky said.

“There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that people have died from tick-related conditions because they were never diagnosed properly.”