Charlie Rowley is in intensive care and can’t see, according to his brother Matthew

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The novichok victim Charlie Rowley has been readmitted to hospital suffering with vision problems, his brother has claimed.

Rowley’s older brother, Matthew, claimed that Charlie had been “knocked sideways” by the development, which comes a month after he was discharged from Salisbury district hospital following treatment for the effects of the nerve agent poisoning.

The hospital said it could not speak about individual cases but stressed it was not treating anyone for the effects of novichok poisoning at the moment.

Charlie’s partner, Dawn Sturgess, died after being exposed to novichok apparently contained in a perfume bottle that he had found.

Matthew Rowley said on Monday that his brother was taken to hospital at the weekend and his vision remained impaired.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Charlie Rowley’s brother Matthew. Photograph: family photo

He told the Guardian: “He’s just told me now he can’t see, he has blurred vision. It’s not too good. He’s been knocked sideways. His girlfriend has died, he’s just got out of a coma. He’s been released from an intensive care unit and all of a sudden he’s back in an IC unit. Can you imagine how you would feel? I can’t, it’s unbelievable.

“I got a phone call from his friend to tell me he was really ill. The hospital told me he had been admitted with problems.”

Matthew Rowley said he did not know if his brother’s current treatment was related to the poisoning.

“I’m not a doctor. I can’t say. I don’t want to cause panic. But it’s pretty coincidental. It’s pretty close together. I’ve only got one younger brother. If I lose him I haven’t got anyone. He sounds quite distant on the phone. He sounded quite elusive, not really making sense. I was trying to ask him about stuff but couldn’t get any real information out of him.”

Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess fell ill on 30 June in Amesbury, four months after the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, suffered novichok poisoning in Salisbury. A murder investigation is continuing into the death of Sturgess.

A spokesman for Salisbury district hospital said: “We can’t talk about individual cases. We’re not currently treating anyone for nerve agent-related illness.”

When Rowley was discharged from hospital, health chiefs made it clear that Charlie Rowley had been decontaminated and posed no risk to the community.



