For two whole months, 18-year-old Dante Lin was on life support as a result of a bacterial infection.
The infection initially presented itself in the form of knee pain, which may not be concerning to many of us.
But as the bacteria spread across the teenager’s body, Dante developed septic shock and at one point, was close to cardiovascular collapse and death.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
The teenager’s saviour came in the form of a complex life-saving machine which took over his heart and lung functions.
After spending 98 days in the hospital, Dante was discharged in late September. He is currently undergoing rehabilitation to regain muscle and lost strength.
According to Lianhe Zaobao, Dante felt pain in his knee after returning from a holiday in Malaysia with his family in June.
He initially thought that the pain was due to muscle soreness from a massage and assumed that it would subside after taking painkillers.
Despite taking the pills, the pain lingered and Dante soon developed a fever.
He sought medical attention and underwent a test for dengue as well as an X-ray at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital’s (KTPH) emergency department. However, the doctors did not discover any abnormalities.
Soon after, Dante experienced chest pain and was unable to walk. He visited the A&E department again, this time with crutches.
This was when medical staff discovered that his knee pain was due to a staphylococcus aureus infection, which had spread to his lungs.
After developing septic shock and becoming unresponsive to treatment at KTPH, Dante was transferred to the National University Heart Centre, Singapore (NUHCS).
Septic shock is a life-threatening condition where the patient’s blood pressure levels plummet as a result of an infection.
At NUH, doctors placed Dante on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (Ecmo) life support.
The Straits Times (ST) describes Ecmo as a “life-saving machine” that takes over a patient’s heart and lung functions.
Doctors typically use the resource-intensive machine for critically ill patients when no other treatments are available.
For the next 62 days, the 18-year-old was hooked onto the Ecmo machine, which helped to supply oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from his blood.
After a total of 98 days at NUHCS, Dante left the hospital to rousing applause from the medical team.
Speaking about his experience, Dante told ST that,
It felt like I went to sleep and woke up the next day, only to realise that two months had passed.
The prolonged period spent intubated in the hospital also caused Dante to lose a considerable amount of weight — from 59kg to 48kg.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
While he’s able to walk normally now, ST reports that the 18-year-old is still unable to run or jump.
He’s currently undergoing a rehabilitation programme to regain his muscle and lost strength.
In total, Dante’s medical bills came to about S$490,000. He was thankfully able to cover the fees via a combination of government subsidies, insurance, and MediSave.
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Featured image adapted from Lianhe Zaobao and Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
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