Former Heisman Trophy Winner Battling a Tough and Rare Disease

Posted by By Bryan at 27 July, at 18 : 58 PM Print

The 1996 Heisman Trophy Winner, Danny Wuerffel, has been diagnosed with a rare immune disorder that directly attacks the nervous system. Wuerffel led the Florida Gators in 1996 to the NCAA National Championship.

While not in football anymore, he is the executive director at the Desire Street Ministry. They released a statement on his behalf, saying that he has got the rare disease called Guillian Barre Syndrome, or GBS. He got this disease in an odd way, as it was just from a normal stomach virus.

But in 60% of the cases that involved GBS, they come directly after either a lung or stomach virus.

When you contract a regular virus, your natural immune system goes into overdrive to try and fight that virus away. But, with GBS, the immune system goes a bit too wild. Once it does that, it starts to attack the wrong things, like your nervous system, instead of fighting off just the virus. It directly attacks the myelin sheath, which is a protective covering for the nerves in the human body. This, in turn, causes weakness throughout the body.

The good news for Wuerffel is that he will make a full recovery.

However, the disease can be a very scary thing, even though it is curable. It starts off as a tingling in your body and some weakness, which then travels to your upper body. The muscle problems get so intense that it can even cause paralysis. Some people are even affected neurologically, causing memory loss. Basically, the earlier the earlier that you find out about this, the easier and faster it is to cure it.

After four weeks or so, the nerves usually can repair themselves and everything can go back to normal. But, if untreated or caught late in the game, it could cause permanent paralysis, all the more reason to get to the doctor if you suspect that you may be sick.

Wuerffel has been able to stand, although he tends to have a lot of pain still in his legs.

He spent 5 years in the NFL with the Redskins before leaving the league and starting his ministry. Along with other Florida Gator greats Steve Spurrier and Tim Tebow, Wuerffel is enshrined forever out side the Gator stadium.

He expects to spend at least a month away from the ministry, as he hopes to get better as much as possible in that time. In the meantime, doctors have told him to get a lot of rest and he will heal just fine. We wish him the best of luck.

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