Volunteer Rescue Diver Going Blind
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Volunteer Rescue Diver Contracts Mysterious Disease While Trying to Locate Victims That Have Drowned and Bring Them Back to Their Families
In January 2016, Daniel at the age of 39 had a stroke while driving home. Miraculously he was not injured. He suffered
alot of the normal things that stroke victims suffer from. He wasn't able to bathe and dress himself, lost 20% vision in
his right eye and 35% in his left eye, his short term memory was severly effected, cognitive skills were not the same,
his speech on a scale of 0-76 (the lower the number the worse the speech) is 12, he cannot preform simple addition, the
concept of money and paying for things is hard for him, unable to read books (he can read but due to his memory, he cannot
remember anything from the 1st page by the time he gets to the 2nd page and there are times when he doesn't even realize
that he needs to use the bathroom before it is too late.
Daniel now lives with his parents because he needs constant supervision and help with simple things. He is able to
bathe and dress himself, but that is about as good as it got for him. When actually things became MUCH worse!
For most stroke patients after about 6 months some of their symptoms should have improved or at least plateaud and not
get any worse.
In August 2016, 8 months after his stroke the doctors could still see that Daniel was getting worse. They preformed
dozens of tests. He has seen 17 different doctors and been to numerous hospitals, including Duke University Hospital.
The doctors were never able to determine why he even had a stroke and now they cannot understand why he is getting worse
every month. Finally they came to the conclusion that he contracted something while volunteering his time looking for
those victims that drowned. This disease is attackiing his brain through the spinal/brain fluid, but the doctors here
have no idea what to do.
The doctors checked is vision in August 2016. It was the same as when he had his stroke.
August 2016: 20% loss in right eye and 35% loss in left eye.
February 2017: 60% loss both eyes
April 2017: 75% loss both eyes
July 2017: 80% loss both eyes
His speech is still at a 12.
His short term memory also continues to worsen.
Sometimes we find Daniel outside disoriented and confused. He refuses to go back inside because he doesn't know whose
house it is.
Due to his loss of vision (he has no peripheral vision or depth perception) he has had dozens and dozens of falls.
He has broken 1 bone, at least 2 dozen serious lacerations, and has 2 knee surgeries scheduled for next month from a
really bad fall.
I want to tell you the Daniel I knew before his stroke and before this mysterious disease got ahold of him. Daniel
skipped the 8th grade in middle school, was in Who's Who 2 years in a row, finished pharmacy school in 2 years, spoke
9 languages and had an IQ of 157. He created new pharmacy equations and was in Who's Who again for pharmacy equations
he came up with, practiced pharmacy for 10 years and then switched to a career as a commercial diver for 13 years.
He has 22 different certifications in different areas of diving. And he volunteered his time to look for those victims that
drowned. Now Daniel sits on the front porch of his parents house staring at the lake almost all day, literally almost
the entire day. Sometimes we find him in a building where he kept all of his SCUBA gear. He would keep everything
hung up in perfect organization. And believe me, he has enough gear to open his own dive shop. He would just stand there
staring at his gear for a couple hours.
Of course most of these searches take place in lakes surrounding by houses. People swim, catch fish and eat those fish.
Rescue teams in small towns like this only search for a certain amount of time. One concern is the contamination if the
victim is not recovered. Daniel always agreed that was true, but that is not the reason he does it. He said is more to
him about getting back someone's loved one to them. If a family member just disappears then you can never mourn or have
any type of closure. He never travels to the site with the rest of team in the emergency vehicles. He takes his own truck
because he refuses to leave until they are found. The family can have a proper funeral, mourn and maybe just possibly
get the tiniest amount of closure.
As of right now, July 27, 2017, none of the doctors can identify what he contracted from the water or how to treat it.
Without treatment, his symptoms will continue to worsen. He needs to find a doctor or hospital that can identify and
stop this infection. The doctors have been very clear that if finds a doctor or hospital that can stop this infection,
that he will not get anything back. It would only keep him from getting worse, but if no doctor or hospital finds it
then he has a couple months before he loses all vision.
We live in North Carolina and Daniel keeps saying to get him to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. We are trying to raise money to send Daniel to the Mayo Clinic. (He was denied financial assistance)
In January 2016, Daniel at the age of 39 had a stroke while driving home. Miraculously he was not injured. He suffered
alot of the normal things that stroke victims suffer from. He wasn't able to bathe and dress himself, lost 20% vision in
his right eye and 35% in his left eye, his short term memory was severly effected, cognitive skills were not the same,
his speech on a scale of 0-76 (the lower the number the worse the speech) is 12, he cannot preform simple addition, the
concept of money and paying for things is hard for him, unable to read books (he can read but due to his memory, he cannot
remember anything from the 1st page by the time he gets to the 2nd page and there are times when he doesn't even realize
that he needs to use the bathroom before it is too late.
Daniel now lives with his parents because he needs constant supervision and help with simple things. He is able to
bathe and dress himself, but that is about as good as it got for him. When actually things became MUCH worse!
For most stroke patients after about 6 months some of their symptoms should have improved or at least plateaud and not
get any worse.
In August 2016, 8 months after his stroke the doctors could still see that Daniel was getting worse. They preformed
dozens of tests. He has seen 17 different doctors and been to numerous hospitals, including Duke University Hospital.
The doctors were never able to determine why he even had a stroke and now they cannot understand why he is getting worse
every month. Finally they came to the conclusion that he contracted something while volunteering his time looking for
those victims that drowned. This disease is attackiing his brain through the spinal/brain fluid, but the doctors here
have no idea what to do.
The doctors checked is vision in August 2016. It was the same as when he had his stroke.
August 2016: 20% loss in right eye and 35% loss in left eye.
February 2017: 60% loss both eyes
April 2017: 75% loss both eyes
July 2017: 80% loss both eyes
His speech is still at a 12.
His short term memory also continues to worsen.
Sometimes we find Daniel outside disoriented and confused. He refuses to go back inside because he doesn't know whose
house it is.
Due to his loss of vision (he has no peripheral vision or depth perception) he has had dozens and dozens of falls.
He has broken 1 bone, at least 2 dozen serious lacerations, and has 2 knee surgeries scheduled for next month from a
really bad fall.
I want to tell you the Daniel I knew before his stroke and before this mysterious disease got ahold of him. Daniel
skipped the 8th grade in middle school, was in Who's Who 2 years in a row, finished pharmacy school in 2 years, spoke
9 languages and had an IQ of 157. He created new pharmacy equations and was in Who's Who again for pharmacy equations
he came up with, practiced pharmacy for 10 years and then switched to a career as a commercial diver for 13 years.
He has 22 different certifications in different areas of diving. And he volunteered his time to look for those victims that
drowned. Now Daniel sits on the front porch of his parents house staring at the lake almost all day, literally almost
the entire day. Sometimes we find him in a building where he kept all of his SCUBA gear. He would keep everything
hung up in perfect organization. And believe me, he has enough gear to open his own dive shop. He would just stand there
staring at his gear for a couple hours.
Of course most of these searches take place in lakes surrounding by houses. People swim, catch fish and eat those fish.
Rescue teams in small towns like this only search for a certain amount of time. One concern is the contamination if the
victim is not recovered. Daniel always agreed that was true, but that is not the reason he does it. He said is more to
him about getting back someone's loved one to them. If a family member just disappears then you can never mourn or have
any type of closure. He never travels to the site with the rest of team in the emergency vehicles. He takes his own truck
because he refuses to leave until they are found. The family can have a proper funeral, mourn and maybe just possibly
get the tiniest amount of closure.
As of right now, July 27, 2017, none of the doctors can identify what he contracted from the water or how to treat it.
Without treatment, his symptoms will continue to worsen. He needs to find a doctor or hospital that can identify and
stop this infection. The doctors have been very clear that if finds a doctor or hospital that can stop this infection,
that he will not get anything back. It would only keep him from getting worse, but if no doctor or hospital finds it
then he has a couple months before he loses all vision.
We live in North Carolina and Daniel keeps saying to get him to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. We are trying to raise money to send Daniel to the Mayo Clinic. (He was denied financial assistance)
Organizer
Daniel Hicks
Organizer
Lexington, NC
