For the past few months, we've reported a few times on the Leptospirosis - the dangerous infection caused by exposure to rats. But, ut stories so far have been clinical and remote with health technicians talking in the abstract about suspect cases. But, on Friday Monica Bodden got a chance to look the illness in its eye - after she linked up with a Belize City man who was knocking on death's door after a serious case of leptospirosis. Here's her story:..
Monica Bodden reporting
After spending 16 days in a coma, 30 days in the hospital and given a 50/50 chance of survival, 21 year old Nigel Augustine is happy to be home.
Monica Bodden
"So you don't remember nothing that happened?"
A month ago Augustine's health quickly deteriorated after he was infected with the deadly disease called leptospirosis.
Today he remembers very little -
Nigel Augustine - Leptospirosis Survivor
"Nothing I don't remember."
Monica Bodden
"So when you wake up...?"
Nigel Augustine - Leptospirosis Survivor
"I don't even remember when I woke up. I don't remember anything."
Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. Humans become infected through direct contact with the urine of infected animals - which is commonly through contact with rat or cattle urine.
Mary Lobo - Augustine's common-law wife recalls the day he fell ill- he bought lunch from a Chinese Restaurant on Central American Boulevard.
Mary Lobo - Common-Law-Wife
"It was a Tuesday evening, he came home with a high fever and I ask him "you seem to be like you were drinking, like you are high" and he said 'no, I am not.' I ask him why did he look that way and he said 'I have a high temperature - fever.' and so I touch his body and I said "oh yes." We went to the Karl Heusner Accident and Emergency. When we reach there the doctor asks what are the symptoms and the doctors says that that seems to be dengue. The doctors said that we will take some blood tests and we will run so many blood tests. The result came and everything was negative, so the doctor looked at me and ask what is the problem, we don't know. But what I am saying Monica, is that from the time I carry you to a healthcare, you should have think and said that this was not the disease. He didn't have any negative/positive, everything is coming negative, think somewhere else - what else can I do."
"Anyways, they release him and I ask the doctor "you all are releasing him, is he good?". Yes, I said "Doc, he is still not feeling anyway." He said (doctor) that he can go home because the fever went down. That is what the doctor said and we have to follow and so we came home."
Augustine was discharged from the KHMH Emergency Room and was sent back home where his condition worsened.
Mary Lobo - Common-Law-Wife
"Saturday about roughly 8:30 the night he started vomiting. I said that you can't bring up anything because you haven't eaten for the past week. What can you bring up if you don't have anything in your stomach, only liquid, because you only drank water. He was still continuing forcing this vomit. He said 'that this looks like blood that I am vomiting' and I said "not to me." It turned worse in the morning. I said "Nigel, you look like you are breathing short" and he said 'yes I can't breathe on my own right now.' I look at him and told him that I need to call ambulance for you now and he said yes. I guess he couldn't take it anymore. The ambulance came and they put all vitals on him because the last thing I ask him is that if he wanted to go to the hospital. As I ask him that, he threw up thick blood. His brother came and lifted him into the ambulance. When he got into the ambulance my daughter said 'mommy, Nigel eyes are turning up.' When the driver of the ambulance saw that he put all vitals on him and we rushed him to the hospital."
"When we got to the Accident and Emergency, they put him on a bed and wheeled him in. When the nurse saw him she said that he is critical, he needs quick attendant. She ask me to leave the room because they needed to attend to him. I told her that I cannot leave the room because he doesn't want me to go. The nurse came and told me that if we had stayed 10 minutes more with him, he would have died with you home because his breath was leaving his body due to the straining that he had on his liver. I watched when his breath was leaving his body and the doctors they push a big machine and they clamped his hands, he went high off the bed and came back down. When he came back down one of the doctors said 'Nigel, you are very strong, you can do it, just continue for us.'"
At that point doctors still hadn't diagnosed Augustine with Leptospirosis.
Mary Lobo - Common-Law-Wife
"When I got in, Dr. Godinez told me, he says 'Ms. Lobo, I need to talk to you, he says that Nigel has a 50/50 chance of living.' I ask him what do you mean, he said 'do you see what came out of stomach? A mug full of blood.' I sat down and I waited for Dr. Arriaga and when he came I said "doc, I am Nigel's common-law, does he have a chance of living? Because we don't know what happen to him, no doctors can't say what happened to him - everybody is saying this and that." Arriaga says that he doesn't know what next to do. He said 'listen to me, I think I had a dream and I know, Nigel is my patient, one more test I need to take is a Leptospirosis test. I ask him, I said Doc what is that? He said that when the test is finish I will tell you what it is. In the morning we went to draw the blood from him, he was still under the life support machine. The test came back positive. He said that we need to start to work on him. I said what is this disease caused from and he said it's from a rat. I asked how had he gotten that disease? He said that maybe rat pee on his food that he ate because that is the way you get it from the rat pee and the stool. That is the reason why Nigel got this disease."
As I sat down with Augustine's family today, they are relieved that the worst is now behind them - and their loved one is on his way to recovery from a disease that almost cost him his life.
Jovita Jones - Mother of Augustine
"I begged all the doctors and the nurse that was in the ICU to help me with my son - they gave him up, I just prayed to them that that they gave me the health and strength to pull through this. He was in the ICU for two weeks."
Monica Bodden
"How are you feeling now?"
Nigel Augustine - Leptospirosis Survivor
"I feel better now, much better. If you could have seen that picture from then to now....."
30 days spent in the hospital - with more than 20 x-rays to show how serious his condition was. His family is left to pay a 12 thousand dollar medical bill - which they clearly can't afford.
Shaniqua Budna - Stepdaughter
"We just want to ask for some assistance pertaining the bill because the bill is very expensive that we cannot pay. But we need help with this."
And for this Leptospirosis Survivor - he can safely say that he won't be eating out anytime soon.
Monica Bodden
"You think that you will be lining up at the "Chiney" to buy any food anytime soon?"
Nigel Augustine - Leptospirosis Survivor
"I dont think so ma'am."
Monica Bodden
"You left with a fear buying food outside."
Nigel Augustine - Leptospirosis Survivor
"Some time these "Chiney" doesn't even change their cooking oil, you could see it because sometimes the food comes out black, then on another day it comes out clear.... it's a serious thing."
Mary Lobo - Common-Law-Wife
"That is a sign shown to us, you can be to death road and come back? No, that is like a bible right. Anybody who seen and witness and seen Nigel, the state he was in the ICU - the picture I gave you of him, that will show the state he was in."
If you would like to help Augustine with his medical bill, you can contact his family at telephone number 6-3-2-2-1-3-5 or you can make contributions to bank account number 3-5-6-4-1 at Heritage Bank.
