By Dalson Chen
The Windsor Star
Copyright 2007 The Windsor Star
WINDSOR, Ontario — Paramedic Richard Kosan is back on the job after spending last Christmas in the hospital in with a mysterious illness that left him in a coma.
Windsor paramedic Richard Kosan didn’t have the merriest of Christmases last year — he was confined to a hospital bed, hooked up to a respirator and relying on a feeding tube to survive.
But the 33-year-old member of Essex-Windsor EMS is enjoying this year’s holiday season with full health. “I would say I’m probably about 95 per cent back now,” Kosan said. “I don’t have any problems lifting at work. I can run again. I can run about 10 kilometres.”
In Dec. 8, 2006, Kosan was visiting family in Florida with his wife when he began experiencing headaches and acting strangely, then suddenly fell into a coma. Doctors determined that his brain was swelling. For more than two weeks, no one — including those treating him — knew if Kosan would ever wake again.
But he opened his eyes on Christmas Day. By January, he had regained self-awareness, and began taking his first tentative steps out of the hospital bed.
Since then, it’s been a rapid recovery for the former high school athlete. In his earliest attempts at re-learning how to walk, he needed hospital staff to follow him with a wheelchair because he would tire so quickly. Six months of physical therapy later, he was strong enough to return to light duties at Essex-Windsor EMS in July.
“Excellent. Everyone has been fantastic,” said Kosan about the support of his workplace and colleagues. “They let me get back in an ambulance a week early.”
After a phase-in period, Kosan returned to full-time hours in September, rejoining his fellow paramedic and ambulance partner Julie Sylvester.
“Just like he never left,” said Sylvester, 31. “Just picked up where we left off, and working like a well-oiled machine again.”
Asked if anyone at work treats Kosan differently because of his illness, Sylvester laughed. “No, actually. They still razz us and tease us and harass us the way they always have. Every so often we razz Rich and he tries to use the ‘I died’ card, but we don’t let him.”
These days, the only physical reminders of Kosan’s ordeal are the medical specialists he has to see. He’s due for a visit to a urologist in January, and he was checked out by a kidney specialist in October. “He did blood work, and he said everything is fine,” Kosan said. “I keep seeing specialists, and I keep getting good reports — a clean bill of health.”
Kosan said he still has to take medication to regulate his blood pressure, but the dosage has been steadily reduced over the past year. He expects he’ll be off it completely by next summer.
Doctors still don’t have an official diagnosis for what happened to Kosan. The best guess is that it was a form of viral encephalitis. Exactly what strain of virus, and how Kosan contracted it, is unknown.
But Kosan is at peace with letting his ailment remain a mystery. “There’s no way of finding out now. Whatever it was, it’s now gone,” he said. “To me, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m back, and close to 100 per cent.”
Kosan said he counts himself lucky that he can do his job again and doesn’t suffer any physical restrictions, so there’s no need for bitterness or wondering why it happened.
“Life is too precious for that.”