Bill Lankford, a 62-year-old retired scientist from Cambridge, was competing in an ultra-distance swim-run across Scandinavia with his wife Christina when a tick bite triggered a rare brain infection so severe he said it felt like “an alien trying to get out” of his head.
In August 2025, Lankford completed a 50km event on the Åland archipelago, halfway between Sweden and Finland. Soon after, he developed cold-like symptoms—fatigue, muscle ache and fever—which he put down to a run-down immune system. After about a week he seemed to improve, but then the headaches began.
“Bill Lankford, 62, was diagnosed with tick-borne encephalitis after a tick bite in Scandinavia, experiencing headaches he described as 'an alien trying to get out'.”
He went to his GP within two and a half weeks, but doctors could not explain his symptoms. The next day he went to hospital, where medics suspected tick-borne Lyme disease and prescribed antibiotics, telling him he should feel better within days.
Instead, his condition deteriorated sharply. “There are no words in the English language to describe how painful the next three days were,” Lankford told PA Real Life. He suffered debilitating headaches, disrupted sleep, balance problems, blackouts, and sensitivity to flickering lights and fast-moving images.
He returned to hospital, where doctors spent three days testing for everything “from Aids to Zika”, in Lankford’s words. The breakthrough came when they performed a cerebrospinal fluid tap. “It’s only when they did a spinal tap of the cerebrospinal fluid that they found the virus,” he said.
He was diagnosed with tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in September 2025, aged 61. TBE is a viral infection spread by tick bites that can cause flu-like symptoms, loss of consciousness, acute headache, memory problems, emotional or behavioural changes, and seizures, according to Encephalitis International. The condition is considered rare in the UK, but doctors took into account Lankford’s recent travel to Scandinavia.
Lankford, who has competed in swim-run events with his wife since 2016, said he was in “very good shape” before falling ill. He does not recall the diagnosis discussions because of the brain pressure. “I think for anyone who’s going through anything to do with encephalitis, you don’t take it all in,” he said.