BRAINTREE, MASS. (WHDH) - A man from Braintree who has been hospitalized in India since February is set to return home after his family was able to raise nearly $200,000 for a special medical flight via air ambulance.
Andrew Wasil, 39, was in India celebrating his brother’s wedding as the best man when he contracted a severe infection. Wasil said he thought it was a pulled muscle at first, but soon he struggled to breathe. The day he was set to fly home to Boston, he was rushed to a hospital in Mumbai instead.
“Within 24 hours he went from having fun at the wedding to being on a ventilator,” said Suzanne Wasil, Andrew’s mother. “The following morning when he woke up, it was clear that he needed more than just a muscle relaxant so he went to the ER and in the ER they said, ‘Oh gosh, he’s not getting much oxygen, his pulse is very low, his hearts not pumping well. We need to put him on a ventilator.'”
Andrew was diagnosed with a strep infection which quickly turned into septic shock. His family said he developed a high fever and his organs began to fail. The illness then led to an amputation of both of his legs below the knees.
“They just couldn’t recover from the lack of oxygen,” Suzanne said. “The strep virus went into his lungs and when they did a blood test, he also had traces of the common cold and the flu.”
Nearly eight weeks after his initial diagnosis, Andrew’s community has rallied to bring him home this weekend. Suzanne said her son will be flown home by a special medical transport, and will face a long recovery.
More than $190,000 in donations have poured in to help continue Andrew’s care in Boston.
“That just touches our family. We have no words except thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Suzanne said. “He’s loyal and kind and generous, and his nieces and nephew love him to pieces, saying, ‘Uncle Andy, Uncle Andy!’ They can’t wait to see Uncle Andy.”
Suzanne said Andrew will board the flight Saturday, and return home Sunday.
A GoFundMe to support Andrew can be found here.
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