Hi, my name is Benjamin Cass-Thornton. I normally live a very normal life, working and taking care of my family, doing the normal things us Americans do.

Back on August 13th of this year, I got out of bed and noticed my feet were weak. I went to work, did my normal shift, and came home, but I was having more trouble walking and experiencing weakness in my feet and further up my legs. I woke up the next morning, went to get out of bed, and fell flat on my face. I laid in bed for the rest of the day, thinking maybe I had a pinched nerve in the ankle or something. By 9:00 that night, I couldn't walk or even stand up.

I went to the hospital the following morning and had to be taken to the emergency room on a stretcher. I spent 6 hours at the local community hospital; they couldn't figure out exactly what was wrong, so they sent me to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. It took about 36 hours for DHMC to diagnose me with Guillain-Barre syndrome with AMSAN. I had no clue what that was or what it meant. They started me immediately on IVIG. That stopped the progression of the disease, which had gotten all the way up to my hips and into my hands and forearms.

Guillain-Barre syndrome is an autoimmune response that your body has to many different things, usually a vaccine or mosquito bites, but it could come from many different things. So, I spent a week getting IVIG treatments and was sent to a physical rehab inpatient. I spent 3 weeks at the inpatient rehab without any noticeable improvement in my mobility or ability to move, walk, or grab things with my hands.

I lost my job over this. I live in New Hampshire, where it's an at-will state for employment. I was brought back to Dartmouth Hitchcock, and they gave me the more extensive treatment of plasma exchange. The doctors now have given me a 40/60 chance of walking again.

I REALLY NEED HELP TAKING CARE OF MYSELF AND MY FAMILY IN THIS TIME OF NEED!!!! ONE DAY I COULD WALK AND WAS A NORMAL PERSON, AND THEN WITHIN 72 HOURS, I WAS A HELPLESS HUMAN BEING. IT'S VERY HUMBLING TO LOSE YOUR MOBILITY AND TO HAVE TO ASK PEOPLE FOR HELP, BUT I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE ANY HELP I COULD GET........