A man told he was going to die after being diagnosed with a terminal illness later discovered his symptoms had been caused - by his prescribed statin pills.

Paul Gill, 65, brought his wedding forward and was given the choice of dying at home or in a hospice after being told he had Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in June last year.

The former rugby league player was resigned to suffering a fate similar to fellow ex-Leeds Rhinos star Rob Burrow, who has been left wheelchair-bound by the condition.

There is currently no cure for MND, which affects the nerves and brain and slowly robs patients of the ability to walk, talk and eat.

But following six months of extensive therapy and life-prolonging treatment, Paul was shocked to find that his health had actually started to improve.

And on January 25, he learned that he actually had statin-induced myopathy - caused by his nightly 40mg cholesterol tablet - which he stopped taking after his MND diagnosis.

The grandad-of-one, who had expected to die in agony but could now make a full recovery, said: “I’m just in shock.

"It’s a wonderful feeling, an incredible feeling. I feel like I’ve had a death sentence and I've been let off - like I’ve come off death row.

“A couple of my good pals that I played with at Clayton Rugby Club, unfortunately, they had MND - and I thought of Rob Burrow straight away.

“But the big key decision I made - which I didn’t realise at the time was going to be absolutely massive - was I stopped taking my Statins when I got diagnosed.

“The consultant told me when I went back on January 25 that was probably the best decision I’d ever made. They were actually impacting my muscles.

“I’m still speechless, and it’s just a miracle.”

Paul, who played 47 times for the Headingley club in the 1980s, began to feel unwell at the start of last year when he struggled to climb steps.

And he chose to get checked out by doctors in February after a holiday to Lanzarote where he failed to walk around 300 yards along the promenade at Playa Blanca.

Back home in Bradford, West Yorks, he underwent a series of examinations in hospital, where he was given MRI and CT scans as well as dozens of blood tests.

But in just a couple of months, the former water billing and collection manager lost four stone in weight and was left wheelchair-bound with the mystery illness.

Following a test to measure his muscle's response to electronic pulses, he got the news that he had MND on June 18 at an appointment accompanied by his fiancee Christine Metcalfe, 55.

Paul said of the diagnosis: “I was absolutely gobsmacked. It was easily the worst day of my life. We were both absolutely on the floor, basically.

“I can remember the day as the darkest day for us both.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been as low in my life. Of course, I thought, ‘Well, what happens now?’ I thought 'It’s just all downhill I’d imagine.'”