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Local man battles back from swine flu

Frank Byers gives a thumbs up as he leaves HealthSouth Western Hills Regional Rehabilitation Hospital in Parkersburg on May 28, 2016. (Photo Provided)

LITTLE HOCKING — Frank Byers is convinced that his daughter and prayer saved his life.

Byers, 57, of Little Hocking has fought back from the swine flu that left him in a coma for more than a month last year.

It all started last March when Byers said he felt a cold coming on. Byers developed a fever and said he didn’t remember periods of time before spending five days at Marietta Memorial Hospital. He said he was told at the Marietta hospital that he had the flu, bronchitis and double pneumonia, and spent time on a respirator.

When his condition did not improve, Byers, who was in a medically induced coma, was flown by medical helicopter to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. There his family was told that Byers was suffering from the swine flu, a case the Columbus medical center had not seen in about 3.5 years, Byers said.

With his lungs filling with fluid, Byers said he spent 34 days in a coma at the OSU hospital. About 20 “lines and tubes” were hooked into his body. He was placed on dialysis as his kidneys were failing, as were other organs.

Frank Byers and his daughter Maddy. (Photo Provided)

During the second week in April, medical personnel thought Byers might die, he said. Defibrillator paddles were used to shock his heart back to life.

His daughter Madeline “Maddy” Byers, who was 19 at the time, said she didn’t want life support measures stopped on her father, Frank said.

Maddy said she told medical personnel to “do whatever they can to keep my father alive, to survive.”

“She saved my life with God’s Grace,” Frank said of Maddy.

Maddy said her father’s health situation was “gloomy at times.”

Around April 16, Byers said, he was disconnected from a respirator. His legs and arms barely functioned after being unused for so long, he said. Byers lost 40 pounds as he lived on a liquid diet.

But he was alive and determined to regain his strength and health.

Maddy, other relatives, friends, his church family and co-workers from Woodcraft Supply, including company President Jody Garrett, stood by him in his battle. Byers had the prayers from Rockland United Methodist Church in Belpre and Pastor Jim Condrey and from others, some people he did not know.

Byers said he appreciates the many cards he received and the people who visited him in the hospital.

Before returning to Parkersburg, Byers spent three weeks in The Specialty Hospital of Lorain in Amherst, Ohio.

Byers said he pushed himself to recover at a rehabilitation center in Parkersburg and was told he could expect to leave at the end of June.

Byers walked out of HealthSouth Western Hills Regional Rehabilitation Hospital in Parkersburg on May 28. Six months of outpatient wound care and physical therapy followed.

More than $5,000 was raised by Woodcraft at a trade show in Columbus to help with Byers’ bills.

Woodcraft employees helped Maddy with their kind words and actions, she said.

Byers, who has been singing since the age of 5, learned to sing with a breathing, or trach, tube during his stay in the Amherst center.

“I wasn’t going to be beat,” Byers said.

Today, Byers still has a little numbness in his feet, but he is lifting weights, jogging and “has all my balance.” He returned to work as social media specialist at Woodcraft in Parkersburg in June.

He said he has a great job and works for a great company.

He is singing again at events, including a recent Sunday at the Rockland United Methodist Church’s Sweetheart Banquet.

Byers is proud of Maddy, who handled the bills, finances, contacting people and other duties while he was hospitalized. At the same time she did well academically at Hocking College in Nelsonville and was in contact with her father while he was hospitalized.

“If not for her, and prayer, I would not be alive,” Frank said of Maddy. “There is a higher power.”

Doctors are unsure how Byers contracted the swine flu, he said. He believes it is a miracle he is alive today.

Byers said he has learned the importance of listening to his body and seeking medical help when he doesn’t feel well. Get flu and pneumonia shots as preventive measures, he said.

Byers did not get a flu shot last year before he was stricken.

“Influenza can kill you,” Byers noted, referring to the number of deaths reported this year nationwide from the flu.

Appreciate each moment and day, he said.

Byers plans to visit The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and The Specialty Hospital of Lorain this spring to thank the caregivers, nurses and other medical personnel who helped him in his recovery.

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