Christian Fellowship Center Rev. Brian Dube was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder, in 2023.

Dube was in Massachusetts when a fight against an infection triggered his immune system to attack his peripheral nerves.

“I had a cold, that turned into bronchitis, that turned into a respiratory infection,” Dube told WJAR. “I go to the emergency room and they gave me some antibiotics. I came home and started to get some tingling in my fingertips and within a few hours the whole left side of my face started to droop. My wife was worried I was having a stroke.”

An ambulance rushed Dube, 50, to Rhode Island Hospital. He was paralyzed, intubated, and on life support. He could not move or speak for about four months.

“I could only move my feet and my right eye,” Dube said.

During his hospital stay, Dube said he prayed a lot and had a revelation about the time he had wasted living in fear when he was healthy.

“I remember laying in the hospital bed, and my whole life I’ve been petrified to fly. If I was going on vacation right now, I would be anxious about the flight,” Dube said. “I remember thinking, ‘Boy you got robbed. What a waste of a fear, like, that fear you had and now and here you are, you’re going to die in a hospital bed.’”

GBS is usually treated with immunotherapy, such as plasma exchange to remove antibodies, and treatment is most often beneficial when initiated a week or two after symptoms appear.

Dube survived, and his doctors released him from the hospital in 2024. Most people recover. Some have permanent nerve damage.

“I still have tingling in my fingers and weakness in my fingers,” Dube recently said. “My tongue and my lips are paralyzed, which affects my speech.”

Dube had overcome adversity before.

“When I was in my 20s, I had a severe addiction to opioids. I ended up going to a rehab, a Christian rehab, in Brockton. During rehab, I lost my dad to cancer. After I got clean and worked on myself, I pursued a master’s degree and half a doctorate degree,” Dube said. “I became a lead pastor in 2009.”

Dube said that after he was released from the hospital in 2024, he still couldn’t lift his arms or walk. As his health improved, he set new goals.

His son-in-law, a flight instructor at Alpha One Flight School in Plymouth, Massachusetts, helped him to become a pilot. His first flight was on Sept. 15, 2024.

“I’ve had 27 since, and I love it,” Dube said. “Before I got in the plane, I’m like, ‘Give me the book, I want to read it, I want to understand how these heavy objects stay in the sky.”

Dube said he is very grateful. His goals also include finishing his doctoral degree and writing a book.

“Everything I’m doing now, at one point, I couldn’t do.”

His message: “Life is a gift and you don’t know what can happen the next day, and so be grateful, be grateful for the moment and embrace it. I tell people I’m in the bonus round, I didn’t think I was going to be here. I’m not afraid to die because as a Christian my life isn’t my life, it’s His.”

Here is a list of symptoms of GBS

• Weakness and tingling in the hands and feet
• Shortness of breath when lying flat
• Weakness in the legs and upper body
• Unsteady walk
• Trouble with facial movements, including speaking, chewing, or swallowing
• Double vision
• Severe pain that may feel achy, shooting, or cramp-like
• Trouble with bladder control or bowel function

Sources: The U.S. CDC, The Mayo Clinic and the World Health Organization

Local 10 News Digital Journalist Andrea Torres contributed to this report.

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla.