Man recovers after septic shock caused by rare bacteria left him without brain activity: ‘We never gave up hope’

Steven Spinale’s condition “rapidly declined” as doctors found he was “bleeding internally,” his sister said.

The story of a man who recovered after being placed in a coma and given a 4% survival rate has gone viral on social media after his sister shared her journey.

Michelle Spinale posted a series of videos on TikTok showing how her brother, Steven Spinale, survived after contracting a rare bacteria while hospitalized in late 2022.

She shared on GoFundMe that he had been “pretty sick” for at least a month and that doctors had been unable to “figure out” what was wrong with him, though they noted that he was “bleeding internally from somewhere.” His condition “declined rapidly” and he was eventually put on life support in mid-October as his organs began to shut down due to septic shock resulting from the bacterial infection.

Septic shock is a progression of sepsis, in which the body’s infection-fighting processes turn against themselves, causing organs to malfunction, according to the Mayo Clinic. In septic shock, the body experiences a dramatic drop in blood pressure that can damage the lungs, kidneys, liver and other organs, according to the clinic.

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At the hospital, Michelle said Steven endured a months-long journey to survive. In a video, she recounted how he suffered a “stroke,” “massive” blood clots in his legs and heart, pneumonia and even developed ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome).

She also said she had to be placed on a RotoProne bed, which treats “severe respiratory failure” according to the National Institutes of Health.

In the video and on the GoFundMe, she explains that the bacterial infection eventually “reached his heart” and he had to have open-heart surgery. She says he was brought out of a coma for the surgery and “intubated for 36 hours” because his “blood wouldn’t clot” and had to have a second surgery to close the wound.

In another video, Michelle said doctors told them Steven had a “4% chance of survival” and that he had “no brain activity” and that they would consider taking him off life support. However, she said the family remained strong because they noticed Steven responding to them while in a coma. After three weeks, he finally woke up and began the slow process of healing.

“We never gave up hope,” Michelle wrote on a TikTok showing photos of him in the ICU and waking up. “And thankfully he’s alive today.”

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On November 29, 2022, Michelle shared an update showing Steven sitting up in bed while smiling and noted that he was learning to sit up on his own again. She said he still had a “long road” of recovery ahead of him, but that he was “on the right track.”

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She also shared a video of him undergoing physical therapy at the hospital doing leg presses. She wrote over it, “We never lost hope and faith. And thank God we didn’t, because look at him now! (Doctors) are not the final word.”

In an update a year later, she showed Steven walking with an aide in his home. “We are blessed. What a journey it has been,” she said.

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