Man spent 43 Years in Wheelchair after wrong diagnosis
Quote:
A Portuguese man who spent 43 years in a wheelchair because he was wrongly diagnosed is only now starting to re-learn how to walk.
Rufino Borrego was just 13 when he was reportedly diagnosed as having incurable muscular dystrophy at a hospital in Lisbon.
After his diagnosis, he began using a wheelchair to get around and went on to use it for more than four decades
It was only until he met a neurologist in 2010 that he discovered he actually suffered from a different disease that weakens the muscles, called myasthenia.
Far from being incurable, the rare disease can be treated simply by taking asthma medication.
A year later, Borrego, now 61, is finally learning to walk to his favourite cafe and only needs to have two physiotherapy sessions a year.
Manuel Melao, owner of the cafe in Alandroal, told the Jornal de Noticias: ‘We thought it was a miracle.’
The 61-year-old insists he has no hard-feelings against the hospital and said: ‘I just want to make use of my life.’
Ok.....so as someone who's dealt with people and occupational therapists they didn't decide to preserve his leg strength and do some mild physiotherapy? They just decided the wheelchair was the be all end all.
that's so sad. Glad they realised
