A doctor faced a difficult situation after he was left ‘paralysed days after he contracted Covid-19 when attending a wedding with his wife and daughter.
Dr William Dugal, now 34, was first diagnosed with a rare syndrome that developed after he contracted the coronavirus having attending a wedding with his wife, Rebecca and infant daughter over Labor Day weekend in 2022. The doctor soon learned that he had the rare post-viral complication called Guillain-Barre syndrome, and lost all ability to move, swallow or breathe unassisted – but he could still think clearly, reports the Mirror.
The syndrome is a rapid-onset muscle weakness which is caused by the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system, and few interventions can slow down its progression. Being a doctor himself, William was quick enough to understand the seriousness of the situation.
Unsure whether he would survive his Covid-19 complications, William said he “made peace that I was likely going to die.” However, he was determined and continued to persist with a miracle happening just months late – he was able to begin moving again.
William was living a normal life in 2022, with his wife Rebecca who had just given birth to their baby girl, Caroline. The medic had just finished his four-year surgical residency and had accepted a position as a private practice general surgeon in North Carolina.
In September 2022, he attended the wedding with his family, but after returning home, they all tested positive for coronavirus, however, William started to notice unusual symptoms.
“He said he felt like his toes were kind of numb, and we thought it was from chasing all the cousins around because he was wearing boots and everything [at the wedding], but it quickly progressed,” Rebecca told local news station WFMY. “I remember we were going through the airport and he was really struggling. He just continued to decline, his back pain was really bad.”
After a few days, the numbness in his legs worsened and he got to the stage that he couldn’t walk.
William remembered: “I knew there was something significantly wrong”.
He subsequently went to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, and was told he had Guillain-Barre syndrome – a rare condition in which the immune system attacks the layer around the nerves, called the myelin, causing nerve damage.
Most people recover completely or only have minor symptoms, such as numbness or tingling afterwards, according to Mayo Clinic.
But the condition can be fatal – especially if the paralysis spreads to the muscles needed to breathe. There is no cure or definitive treatment, so doctors usually offer supportive measures.
“You don’t know how severe it’s going to get and you don’t know how long it’s going to last,” William explained. “They were two kinds of anxiety for me.”
However, William said he was “keenly aware” of how bad his situation was being a doctor himself. He explained: “It was a very humbling feeling when you realise you’re at the mercy of the process and you have to accept whatever comes.”
Unfortunately, William said his symptoms deteriorated over the course of a month in the hospital “with complication after complication”. He soon became paralysed and was unable to swallow or breathe unassisted.
“I couldn’t move my eyes and blink,” he recalled. “And as that’s happening, I can’t express enough the fear and uncertainty I had.”
As his condition worsened, William had to be put on a ventilator, a move that caused him to think he would never recover. He said: “I made peace that I was likely going to die. I looked at [my wife] and told her to take care of our daughter.”
William ended up spending two weeks on a ventilator, after which he developed pneumonia, both of his lungs collapsed, and his oxygen levels dropped dangerously low – which meant he wasn’t getting enough oxygen to the brain, which could be fatal. He began to code one night, and the doctors placed him on an ECMO machine – which takes over heart and lung functions.
William was on the ECMO machine for about nine days before he was placed back on the ventilator but was still unable to speak, wiggle his toes or blink. “Your muscles are so weak,” he said, “I was completely trapped in my own body and sitting there, staring at the same spot on the wall.”
Things took a turn for the worse when he lost his contract with a surgical practice as he wouldn’t be able to start on time due to his illness. Doctors advised he be sent to an in-patient rehab facility, but the only one that would accept him with a ventilator was in Houston, Texas. So an air ambulance flew him to TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston.
But it wasn’t easy as his first few days were incredibly tough. William lost 60 pounds (just over four stone) and was still being fed through a feeding tube because he was too weak to swallow. He still couldn’t sit up alone or leave the bed – but he soon made some small progress.
“I remember the first time I could kind of wiggle my big toe,” he said. “It was the most unexciting thing you’ve ever seen.”
After two months, he went back home, and was using a power wheelchair and still needed in-home physical, occupational and speech therapy to relearn daily tasks. “I was trying to get back my life skills,” William says. “To be able to get dressed, to eat by myself … tie (my) shoes, pick up objects.”
Finally, nine months after his shocking diagnosis and after almost a year of immobility, he was able to walk again. As his mobility returned he wanted to practice his surgical skills, and virtual reality helped him do so.
By July 2023, he returned to work at the same hospital that saved his life, and then started an ECMO fellowship where, for almost a year now, he has been “putting patients on the same treatment that saved me at the same hospital,” he said.
“It was great to be able to work with the same people who saved me – therapists and surgeons.”. Adding: “I have more empathy and a better understanding of the patient’s experience,” he said,”I hope that I can provide that same compassion and support to other people in similar situations.”
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Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
