- Dr. William Dugal, 34, caught COVID in 2022 and quickly became paralyzed
- He was diagnosed with Guillaine-Barré syndrome
A North Carolina doctor is working to rebuild his life and help other patients, just two years after being paralyzed by a rare syndrome after contracting COVID.
Dr. William Dugal, now 34, caught the virus after attending a wedding with his wife and infant daughter over Labor Day weekend in 2022, NBC News reports.
He soon learned he was suffering from a rare post-viral illness known as Guillain-Barré syndrome, and within days he lost all ability to move, swallow or breathe without assistance.
Dugal wasn’t sure he would survive and said he “had made peace with the fact that I was probably going to die.”
But Dugal persisted and after several months he was able to start moving again.
Dugal’s troubles began in September 2022, when everything was going well for him and his wife, Rebecca.
She had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl named Caroline, and he had just completed a surgical residency and accepted a position as a general surgeon in private practice, according to WFMY.
But after attending a wedding over Labor Day weekend, Dugal began to notice worrying signs.
“He said he felt like his toes were numb, and we thought it was because he was chasing all his cousins because he was wearing boots and everything (to the wedding), but it progressed quickly,” Rebecca told the local news channel.
“I remember we were walking through the airport and he was really struggling. He just continued to decline, his back pain was really bad.
After a few days, Dugal said he could no longer walk.
“I knew something was seriously wrong,” he said.
Dugal then went to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, where he was informed that he had Guillain-Barré syndrome – a rare condition in which the immune system attacks the layer around the nerves, called myelin, thus causing nerve damage.
Most people recover or have minor symptoms, but the illness can also be fatal, especially if the paralysis spreads to the muscles used for breathing.
There is no cure or definitive treatment, so doctors usually offer supportive measures.
“You don’t know how bad it’s going to get and you don’t know how long it’s going to last,” Dugal said. “It was two kinds of anxiety for me.”
But as a doctor, Dugal said he was “very aware” of the seriousness of his situation.
“It was a humbling feeling to realize that you are at the mercy of the process and you have to accept whatever happens.”
Unfortunately, Dugal said, her symptoms worsened over the course of a month in the hospital “with complication after complication.”
He quickly became completely paralyzed and could no longer swallow or breathe without assistance.
“I couldn’t move my eyes or blink. And as that happens, I can’t express enough the fear and uncertainty that I had,” he said.
Dugal then had to be put on a ventilator, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever recover.
“I made peace with the thought that I was probably going to die,” he told NBC News.
“I looked at (my wife) and told her to take care of our daughter.”
He then spent two weeks on a ventilator, after which he developed pneumonia and both of his lungs collapsed.
As a result, his oxygen levels became dangerously low and he was not getting enough oxygen to his brain, which could be fatal.
He started coding one night and doctors placed him on an ECMO machine, which supports heart and lung function.
Dugal remained on the machine for about nine days before being put back on a ventilator – but he was still unable to speak, wiggle his toes or blink his eyes.
“I was completely trapped in my own body and sitting there looking at the same spot on the wall.”
Things got worse when he lost contact with a surgical practice because he couldn’t start on time.
Doctors ultimately recommended he be sent to an inpatient rehab, but the only one that would accept him on a ventilator was in Houston, Texas.
So Dugal took an air ambulance to TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston.
The first days proved even more difficult.
Dugal lost 60 pounds and was still fed through a feeding tube because he was too weak to swallow.
He still couldn’t sit up on his own or get out of bed, but he quickly made some small progress.
“I remember the first time I was able to wiggle my big toe,” he said. “It was the least exciting thing you’ve ever seen.”
Dugal spent two more months in the hospital, but still needed physical, occupational and speech therapy at home to relearn daily tasks.
“I was trying to get my life skills back: being able to dress myself, eating on my own…tying (my) shoes, picking up things.”
Finally, nine months after his shock diagnosis, Dugal was able to walk again.
And as his mobility returned, Rebecca gave him a virtual reality set to practice his surgical skills.
In July 2023, Dugal returned to work – at the same hospital where he recovered.
He started in a laboratory where surgical studies were carried out, then started an ECMO fellowship where, for almost a year now, he has “put patients through the same treatment that saved me in the same hospital,” he said. he declared.
“It was great to be able to work with the same people who saved me: therapists and surgeons,” he told NBC News.
Ultimately, he says, the experience made him a more caring doctor.
“I have more empathy and a better understanding of the patient experience,” Dugal said.
“I hope I can provide the same compassion and support to others in similar situations.”