Aussie man's devastating diagnosis after attending music festival
An Australian man is permanently disabled after falling seriously ill at a music festival in Queensland.
Dylan Clark, from Lowood west of Brisbane, attended the 2022 CMC Rocks event in Ipswich with his family a month ago and fell ill on Sunday September 25.
After his sickness persisted, his family ruled out that it was caused by “heavy drinking” at the festival.
The 24-year-old was showing signs of vomiting and immobility, according to the Courier Mail, and his father originally thought he had contracted a bug at the festival.
“Over the past couple of weeks Dylan had been getting sicker and sicker,” his sister Ashliegh wrote on a GoFundMe page set up for Mr Clark.
“He then was starting and continued to deteriorate until 19th of October when he was admitted to hospital.”
Mr Clark was hospitalised after he called his parents and asked them some “really silly questions” that made them realise something wasn’t right.
His mother drove to his house and found him confused and unable to stand, the Courier Mail reported.
He was transferred from Ipswich Hospital to Princess Alexandra Hospital to have emergency surgery on his brain, where doctors discovered he had a “very rare” case of bacterial meningitis.
While the surgery was a success, Mr Clark took a turn during the night and had a stroke – with doctors telling the family to prepare for the worst.
“Dylan’s right side of his brain has died where he will now be permanently disabled for the rest of his life,” his sister wrote.
His family travelled to be by his side and incredibly he soon began to show signs of recovery.
“Dylan is slowly coming back he gave his nurses a cheeky little thumbs up and was poking his tongue in and out,” Ashliegh Clark wrote.
“He is determined to fight and win. His doctors and nurses, friends and family are as well determined to fight even harder for him,” she added, acknowledging that her brother still has a long road ahead of him.
Mr Clark is now talking and responding, though his speech is slurred.
His left arm is not responding and he is experiencing drooping to the left side of his face, but his father is thrilled with his improvements calling them an “absolute miracle”.
“I’ve got my son back,” he told the Courier. “I don’t care about anything else.”
The family’s fundraiser has raised more than $5000 of the $8000 goal, which will go towards aiding Mr Clark’s recovery.
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