At first, Rachel Dilly was simply flattered by the attention from the handsome stranger. It had been almost a year since she had separated from her partner of 20 years, with whom she had three children, and, like so many middle-aged and newly single women, she had started to explore the world of online dating. The man who had contacted her seemed interesting and articulate. ‘We just clicked, so I agreed to meet him for dinner,’ recalls Rachel, a charity worker from Harpenden, Hertfordshire. 'All went well at first and romance ensued.
But after a few months, things ‘fizzled out’. However, for Rachel, the brief affair would have a grave legacy. She began to feel ill, losing her sense of taste and smell and suffering from swollen glands and mouth ulcers. ‘My doctor thought it sounded like malaria but I hadn’t been abroad. When I found an ulcer on my body, I was referred to a GUM [genitourinary medicine] clinic.
CONTINUE AFTER THE CUT
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