I’m Phil, I’m 74 and I have always been athletic. Here is my story of encephalitis.

I went to the Wind River area of Wyoming to hike with my friend in the mountains in 2025.  Elevation 7,000 feet.

The 3rd day after hiking, and while sleeping at 4:30am I went into my first ever seizure attack. Luckily, my hiking partner woke up and called 911. I was taken to hospital, misdiagnosed, then flown by helicopter to a different hospital.  There I was diagnosed with Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) encephalitis.

After a week in hospital, my kids decided to fly me to a specialist clinic in Minnesota. I stayed there for one month, then another month living with my kids in the Twin Cities.  It wasn’t until two months afterwards that I was able to return home to northern Minnesota. My grandkids stayed here with me for another 3 weeks watching over me.

Today, after 95 days from the initial seizure attack, I’m feeling about 50% recovered.

I did not experience any prior symptoms that I’m aware of prior to the seizure.  It just happened unexpectedly and I was completely surprised at the diagnosis.

Today, physically after just 3 months I’m still much weaker than before the seizure but slowly getting stronger and healing.

The episode and hospital stay made me unusually weak.  My body still aches each day and I get super tired anytime during the day which makes it hard to make daily plans.

Mentally, I’m afraid to enter into any type of stress related activities or conversations.  I tend to back away from these encounters as my heart races when I’m confronted with most types of stress.  My brain feels afraid of the world and I get amnesia constantly when I’m in conversations with others.

Strangely, I’m better than before at cleaning the house and paying attention to my body and brain because I’m so afraid of another seizure.  I’m more careful about what I do and what I say.

I continue to visit my therapist to help relearn the simple behavioural patterns I’d forgotten. Old memories are mostly all here but new situations and experiences are easily forgotten these days.

I’m not and don’t want to be responsible for anything right now as I recover – except to become more deeply connected to understanding and experiencing these changes in my body and brain.

Life is different now but I’m a happy man. I didn’t die.

It’s up to me now with the help from others to improve myself and experience the peace and love that still is here within my new life with encephalitis.

If you would like to speak to our support team about encephalitis, please contact our helpline.

Story published August 2026