Twist of fate in Africa changed man's perspective

Lake Victoria, the third-largest lake in the world and headwaters of the Nile River, looked cool and inviting as Andrew Tarter of Olympia prepared to take a plunge during a visit last winter to Sese Island off the coast of Uganda.

Before jumping in, Tarter, 29, checked the posted signs that said the beach was safe for swimming, free of snails that can cause a parasitic infection known as schistosomiasis, a fairly common occurrence in sub-Saharan Africa.

But as Tarter dried off, he noticed several snails in the grass. He didn't think much of it, but he did take a thorough shower back in his room just in case one or more of the free-swimming parasite larvae had tried to attach to his skin and penetrate his body.

Tarter, a 2004 University of Washington graduate in environmental studies and, more recently, a bartender at the Fish Tale Brew Pub in Olympia, continued his seven-month trip to East Africa and India, returning to Olympia last August. The swim in Lake Victoria was just a fading, pleasant memory.

Not for long. On Dec. 9, 2007, Tarter woke up in his downtown Olympia apartment with excruciating back pain, followed the next few days by numbness in his feet and an inability to urinate.

A friend took him to the Capital Medical Center emergency room, but Tarter was sent home after a brief encounter with a doctor.

"They didn't take me seriously," Tarter said.

At the advice of others, he headed to Northwest Hospital & Medical Center in Seattle. He was admitted and run through tests, including five MRIs. During his six-day stay, he became paralyzed from the waist down.

The diagnosis: a neurological disorder called transverse myelitis, which is an inflammation of the spinal cord that can cause damage to nerve fibers, interrupting communication between those nerves and the rest of the body.

After a regimen of antibiotics and steroids to fight infection and reduce swelling, Tarter can now walk with a cane. It may be months, or even years, before Tarter will know if his condition, which makes his legs feel like they are asleep from the midthigh down, is permanent or will improve.