{"623014":{"#nid":"623014","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Student Couldn\u2019t Walk in April. He Ran the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th.","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDillan Pierce turned a trial into a triumph after finding himself in a very unlikely place for a college student: an intensive care unit (ICU) unable to walk.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPierce, a member of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s rowing team club began experiencing medical issues during spring training.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe was taken to the hospital where he spent a month in the ICU. He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barr\u0026eacute; syndrome, an incredibly rare neurological disorder where the body\u0026rsquo;s immune system mistakenly starts attacking the peripheral nervous system.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd the challenge was far from over for the chemical engineering student.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I spent about a week at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta along with eight weeks of outpatient physical therapy to relearn how to walk.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPierce also had to relearn how to perform most everyday tasks.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe cause of Guillain-Barr\u0026eacute; syndrome is unknown, and doctors still have no idea why it attacks particular patients, although it is not contagious or inherited.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPierce had run Atlanta\u0026rsquo;s iconic Peachtree Road Race before, but this year\u0026rsquo;s edition was even more special considering he wasn\u0026rsquo;t even able to walk in April.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I had a lot of support from the Georgia Tech crew team and my family [throughout] my recovery,\u0026rdquo; Pierce says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPierce was captured in a photo shared by the Peachtree Road Race on Facebook, running with the D-wave.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHis journey continues as he trains to return to competition with the crew team.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I still have a bit before I\u0026rsquo;m able to compete again.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut he\u0026rsquo;s well on his way.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Chemical engineering major was diagnosed with rare neurological disorder"}],"uid":"28058","created_gmt":"2019-07-05 18:52:51","changed_gmt":"2019-07-05 18:58:55","author":"Steven Norris","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-07-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-07-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"623015":{"id":"623015","type":"image","title":"Dillan Pierce Runs Peacthree After Devastating Diagnosis","body":null,"created":"1562352930","gmt_created":"2019-07-05 18:55:30","changed":"1562352930","gmt_changed":"2019-07-05 18:55:30","alt":"","file":{"fid":"237256","name":"502CF68F-063E-4458-BA35-CEC1D1BA274A.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/502CF68F-063E-4458-BA35-CEC1D1BA274A.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/502CF68F-063E-4458-BA35-CEC1D1BA274A.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":115685,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/502CF68F-063E-4458-BA35-CEC1D1BA274A.JPG?itok=LAO0Cs0R"}},"623016":{"id":"623016","type":"image","title":"Dillan Pierce Runs Peacthree After Devastating Diagnosis","body":null,"created":"1562353064","gmt_created":"2019-07-05 18:57:44","changed":"1562595094","gmt_changed":"2019-07-08 14:11:34","alt":"Dillan Pierce","file":{"fid":"237257","name":"IMG_9420.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_9420.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_9420.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1233515,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_9420.jpg?itok=wDJrtJmJ"}}},"media_ids":["623015","623016"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"37161","name":"Peachtree Road Race"},{"id":"516","name":"engineering"},{"id":"1841","name":"race"},{"id":"181640","name":"overcoming odds"},{"id":"181641","name":"guillain-barre"},{"id":"7269","name":"disorder"},{"id":"5302","name":"Disease"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESteven Norris\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nSocial Media\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["snorris@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}