football fan is currently in the hospital. Doctors informed him of a rare autoimmune condition after he took a cross-country trip to see a Michigan Wolverines football game. Now his family is desperate to bring him home.
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The man, named Dewey Barber, flew to Michigan to watch his team, the University of Oklahoma, take on the Wolverines. However, he never got a chance to see his beloved Sooners. He landed in the hospital before kickoff, according to local Michigan news outlet KOCO.
Man Stuck in Michigan After Health Crisis During Trip to See Football Game
Barber has been in the hospital and on a ventilator since September 11. He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome. A rare condition in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the peripheral nerves. Symptoms typically worsen over days or weeks before stabilizing and improving. And Can lead to severe or total paralysis, making it hard to breathe, speak, or swallow.
Barber's daughter, Tosha Inman, told the local news station that the day before the big game her father woke up unable to move his legs. And she immediately knew something was wrong.
"Friday morning, before the game, he woke up and couldn't move his legs. He couldn't get out of bed," she said to the outlet. He has partial paralysis on one side of his face, but he can communicate when he's awake—head nods and head shakes."
Inman says that now that the Barber has been diagnosed with the condition, the next step is to bring him home. So that he can receive treatment at a hospital closer to Oklahoma, they are waiting on a referral that will clear him to take an Angel Med-Flight back home. Which she describes as a "private plane that's been fitted with a full ICU."
Unfortunately, Dewey's insurance won't cover the flight. So they have turned to crowdfunding. In hopes of raising the money to bring him home.
At the time of writing, the fundraiser has collected $10,325 of its $18,000 goal.
