In the fall of 2022, Dr. William Dugal, then 32, contracted COVID-19 and began experiencing unusual symptoms. “It started with the numbness in my feet, almost like my shoes were too tight, and it progressed to where I was having trouble walking,” Dugal, now 34, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, tells TODAY.
com. “I knew there was something significantly wrong. Dugal, who had just finished his surgery residency, went to a local hospital, where he learned he had a rare post-viral complication called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
It can cause anything from muscle weakness to complete paralysis, and very few interventions can slow its progression. Soon, Dugal became completely paralyzed and couldn’t swallow or breathe unassisted. But he could still think clearly.
“I couldn’t even move my eyes and blink. And as that’s happening, I can’t express enough the fear and uncertainty I had,” Dugal says. “Sometimes medical knowledge is a good thing and a bad thing because you are keenly aware of the severity of your illness.
” Over Labor Day weekend 2022, Dugal and his family had a lot to celebrate. He had just completed his four-year surgical residency and was preparing to start a new job in North Carolina. His wife also recently had given birth to a beautiful baby daughter.
“Things were really looking great,” he says. “(We) were about to start the next chapter.” They attended a wedding, and after returning home, all three tested positive for COVID-19.
Dugal’s wif.
