It was in the back of an ambulance that Shaun Udal woke up.
The former England spinner had fallen down a flight of 16 stairs at his office and was being rushed to the hospital in a neck brace. Paramedics had cut away his clothes to work on his body.
Udal had been experiencing a loss of dexterity in some of his fingers and was struggling to tie his shoelaces for a number of years.
He had neck pain, which may have been related to a previous operation.
However, six weeks after being hospitalized, he received a letter stating that his symptoms indicated the onset of Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological condition with no known cure.
This news arrived one month before his 50th birthday.
The initial months were challenging for Udal as he worked to verify his diagnosis and accept the new path ahead of him:
"When you have your first bad night, you just wake up and think 'I just can't get out of bed, I can't move properly, I'm stuck'. I'm going to the loo and I'm falling over on my back, my balance is bad, I can't do my buttons up, can't do a tie - those things that are basically simple things. It's not very nice to people that you live with, because when you've got your frustrations you take it out on the people that are closest to you."
Shaun Udal was an off-break bowler who took 1,330 wickets in a senior career lasting 21 years. He made 10 one-day international appearances for England in the mid-'90s, but did not receive further international honours for ten years.
However, his performances in a Shane Warne-led Hampshire side in 2005 earned him call-ups for tours of Pakistan and India.
At the age of 36, he made his Test debut in Multan and played five matches for England that winter. In Mumbai, he took 4-14 in the final innings, helping his side to a series-equalling victory.
Udal experienced several losses close to the time of his diagnosis, including the death of Warne in 2022 and both his parents passing away within 18 months.
Additionally, crucial muscle therapies were suspended during the Covid pandemic:
"You've got to make the most of every good day. And some days there are bad days, which is really hard to take, but the people around you do suffer as well - you've got to have a strong network and try to have a positive mindset."
At 55 years old and five years after his diagnosis, Udal finds that remaining active in sports is a crucial part of his life and a source of support.