Metro Man Still Battling Effects Of West Nile Virus 2 Years Later

<span style="font-size:12px"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The threat of West Nile Virus is not dropping until October. Just ask a metro man still battling the effects of the virus after he contracted it two years ago.</span></span>

Monday, August 17th 2015, 7:07 pm

By: News 9


The threat of West Nile Virus is not dropping until October.

Just ask a metro man still battling the effects of the virus after he contracted it two years ago.

Last week, two more batches of mosquitoes in Oklahoma County tested positive for West Nile Virus and Jason Wisdom said he is living proof the virus can happen to anyone.

Wisdom is starting a new chapter in his life by heading back to college.

However, the 40-year-old is still recovering from the last big life changer, West Nile Virus.

“People can't argue with me about, ‘Oh that will never happen to me,’” Wisdom said.

In September 2013, Wisdom was in the best shape of his life.

He had lost more than 60 pounds and was competing in triathlons, preparing for Iron Man competitions.

Then, a mosquito bite stopped him in his tracks.

“I was very active and within a matter of 10 days or so, I was completely paralyzed and my body was shutting down,” Wisdom told News 9.

He contracted West Nile Virus and nearly died.

He needed a ventilator to breathe, and he was in ICU for six weeks and in different hospitals for a total of four months.

He even had to learn how to walk again.

“They had to dust off some of their catalogs and pull out their books, because they had no idea what was going on with me,” Wisdom recalled about his doctors. “I was one of the worst cases they had seen."

Two years later, he has partial to full paralysis in both arms and atrophied muscles in both legs.

“My left hip is weaker than my right and my back now looks like a snake,” Wisdom explained.

Wisdom said his faith got him through the battle.

He said he believes God prepared his body for the virus and its effects, and that more blessings have come from it than hardships.

“God can do anything,” he beamed.

Wisdom won the Jim Thorpe Courage Award and will be at the Jim Thorpe Courage Run on October 4, 2015.

The proceeds go to help those who are recovering from spinal injuries.

Jim Thorpe Courage Award

Jim Thorpe Courage Run

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