A TIVERTON father-of-two who lost his wife, job and home while fighting chronic kidney disease has overcome dyslexia to write a novel.

Terry Gooding, 41, started the 27,000-word thriller The Darkest Hour while working as a courier. And he carried on despite his condition getting worse to the point where he now needs dialysis — blood cleaning treatment — three times a week.

Terry, from Tiverton, spent £650 to publish his book with the company AuthorHouse. And now he is hoping it will lead to a new career as an author, despite his dyslexia — a learning difficulty which affects reading and writing skills.

"My marriage broke up at Christmas," said Terry, who had been married for 20 years. "I hope I can make some living from writing and look after the boys — aged three and 10 — as they are the most important thing to me."

Terry was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis — kidney disease — about 15 years ago. He said: "One day at work I just had no energy at all. I was completely drained. It happened again so I went to the doctor and had blood tests and a renal biopsy. My level of kidney function started to drop.

"I carried on normally, doing various jobs and taking the tablets they put me on. I was doing a lot of hours and coming home and finding more work to be done, and I tended to forget to take the tablets which brought on kidney failure."

The doctor told Terry he was putting too much strain on his body. "He told me my levels were really bad and things needed to be sorted out," recalled Terry.

"I left my job and everything around me seemed to be crashing. I ended up getting behind with the mortgage payments and losing the house, so we moved into rented accommodation with bankruptcy looming.

"I started dialysis about seven months ago after suffering tiredness and nausea. I have to go to the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital three times a week. "

Terry has to lose another kilogram before he can get onto the transplant waiting list, as patients must be an acceptable weight for the operation to be successful. He started writing properly for the first time since school at the age of 38, at his mother's suggestion. "I was writing it as a courier," said Terry. "If I had half an hour spare I'd get the laptop out."

He also wrote some of it while on dialysis, tapping with one finger as his other arm was out of action.

Due to his dyslexia he had to keep going over what he had written. He said: "It's not complicated with fancy words but about a dozen people have read it and they say they feel like they're there in the story and they can't put it down."

He is now working on a sequel, which will be a bit longer. Terry said: "It started off as a hobby but people said I should think about getting it published. I'd like to be a full-time author. I really enjoy writing.

"If I can write a story, anyone can, as long as they have the imagination and will to succeed. It doesn't matter if you have a problem or illness."

To find out more about Terry's book, or buy a copy, visit www.authorhouse.co.uk