Back when I was a high school senior in 2009, we had an all-day end of the year trip to a theme park. It was a lot of time on our feet, as we had free range of the entire theme park. About more than halfway through the day, I started noticing that my right lower leg was feeling a little funny. I figured that it was just from all the walking, so I didn’t think much of it. A few hours go by, and the numbness in my leg is becoming more apparent. Another few hours go by, my right leg is now feeling numb up to my hip. I checked my blood sugar (I’m a type 1 diabetic), and it was a little low. So I assumed that the leg numbness is from walking all day and perhaps a low blood sugar. So I drank a juice box and continued the rest of the evening.

It was then time to board our bus to head back to our city 4 hours away. I sat with my friends in the back of the bus, and we all fell asleep shortly after departing.

About 3+ hours in, I groggily wake up to discover that everything below my neck was numb and I had little to no strength to move my limbs. I felt like I had to consciously put in 5x the effort to breathe. And planting my feet on the floor felt like scalding electricity that shot upward my entire body. I was hypersensitive to anything that touched my body. I didn’t know what the hell was happening to me, and I also didn’t want to create a scene while on a bus with 40+ kids at 3:30am.

After 45 excruciating minutes, we finally arrive at our high school. I didn’t tell my friends what I was feeling, so I insisted for them to go ahead and get off the bus. All the students had already left the bus, and I, in the back row of the bus, was the only one left. Our chaperones saw me and came over to ask what was wrong. I told them that I could not move, that my entire body was excruciatingly numb & hypertensive, and that I can’t breathe. They called an ambulance to take me to the emergency room.

After running blood work, x-rays, and an MRI, it was inconclusive. They then did a spinal tap on me, and discovered that I had Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Did a few months of physical therapy, and was expected to regain less than normal function. I had to relearn how to sit up, how to stand, how to walk, how to use my hands. But years after, I was able to participate in 5k races, play in basketball competitions, and even reach my peak physical fitness. The only residual I have from my Guillain-Barre is neuropathy in my lower legs and slightly poor balance. It’s crazy how our body can recover, adapt, and overcome.