Anne Anders calls her husband, Dan, the "Miracle Man." But
really she means miracles, plural.
There was the time the former Air Force gunner was pinned to the
ceiling of an AC-130 gunship as it plunged 2,000 feet before the
pilot regained control, one of many close calls in the skies over
Vietnam. More recently he survived a head-on collision that caused
a stroke. His recovery took five years.
But this might be Dan Anders' most miraculous feat of all: The
61-year-old St. Petersburg man survived an incredibly rare and
lethal strain of anthrax.
He wasn't the victim of a terror attack, like the one that
killed five in 2001. Instead, he inhaled spores of a naturally
occurring strain of anthrax during his summer vacation out west.
Since 1976, only two cases of naturally occurring inhalation
anthrax have been seen in the United States.
"They said I had a less than 5 percent chance of making it,"
Dan Anders said Tuesday, his voice hoarse and weak after 24 days in
the hospital. "But I did."
His wife said there also was something divine in the way doctors
and medical experts came together in Minnesota to save her
husband's life.
"It's just like one miracle after another," Anne Anders said.
The Anderses left for North Dakota on July 13 to start their
summer tour of national parks: Yellowstone, Glacier, Mount
Rushmore, Wind Cave, etc.
By the time they got to a friend's summer place in Pelican
Rapids, Minn., on Aug. 2, Dan Anders said he already was feeling
run down and tired.
The next day, a friend took him to Lake Region Healthcare in
nearby Fergus Falls.
It looked like pneumonia. He was admitted and given antibiotics.
But Dr. Joe Meyer also ordered extensive blood cultures, according
to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis , which first reported the story
Monday.
The next day, the hospital noticed a type of bacteria they
weren't used to seeing.
Soon, the state Health Department was called in. And then the
FBI. Test results confirmed Dan Anders had Bacillus anthracis the
anthrax bacteria.
Doctors moved quickly Aug. 5 to get him to Hennepin County
Medical Center in Minneapolis for emergency treatment.
Dan Anders was delirious at this point. They asked if he wanted
to fly or take an ambulance. He doesn't remember choosing the
flight.
By the time his wife made the long drive to Minneapolis later
that day, he was in a medically induced coma. He spent 11 days on
life support.
"The reason the bacteria is such a problem is the toxins the
bacteria produces," said Dr. Mark Sprenkle, a specialist who
treated Anders in Minneapolis. "The toxins can lead to many sorts
of problems and people can go on to develop multisystem organ
failure."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rushed in a
specialized treatment anthrax immunoglobulin derived from the
serum of people vaccinated against anthrax. Two CDC epidemiologists
flew in to study the case and the disease.
The couple's daughter, Malita Anders, flew from Orlando to be
with her parents. She wanted just one thing: that her father sing
happy birthday for her.
Slowly, he was brought out of his coma. Aug. 17, after they had
removed the ventilator tube from his throat, he sang for his
daughter on her 31st birthday.
"That was the best birthday present she or anybody could ever
have," Anne Anders said.
A dozen doctors worked on him for days afterward. Investigators
retraced the couple's steps through five states and issued a
nationwide alert for anthrax. Investigators clad in special gear
searched their belongings.
Experts believe that Dan Anders most likely contracted anthrax
during his travels. Symptoms usually appear within a week of
exposure.
According to the CDC, people can be infected by contact with
contaminated animal products, or by eating undercooked meat from
infected animals. But that's rare.
Rarer still is the infection Dan Anders had: inhalation anthrax.
"They say it can lay in the ground for 60 years and then pop
back up," he said.
Dan Anders, a retiree who ran his own irrigation business, was
released from the hospital on Monday. But he's not able to return
to St. Petersburg yet.
He needs a cane to get around. He'll be on antibiotics for
another 60 days. He has another long recovery ahead of him.
The Anderses appreciate everyone who helped save his life. But
Anne Anders, 63, knows how close she came to losing her husband of
36 years.
What if they hadn't mailed the blood samples out on the very
last run Friday? What if they had picked the ambulance and gotten
stuck in traffic? What if the rare affliction had gone undiagnosed
in Fergus Falls?
"I can't make any sense of it. Nor can any of the doctors."
Dan Anders wishes that for once he could experience a different
kind of miracle in his life:
"I wish it would have been the lottery instead of the
disease."
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c.2011 St. Petersburg Times