South African Cricket Player Reclaims Life From Guillain-Barré Syndrome

By Destany Fuller | WeINSPIRE Movement

SAN MARCOS, Texas – In 2019, after playing one of the best cricket matches of his career, then 26-year-old Solomzi Nqweni’s life changed forever. The South African cricket player was in Scotland when he was struck by the life-threatening autoimmune disease known as Guillain-Barré syndrome. He recalls it as the scariest experience of his life. 

Guillain-Barré syndrome causes the body’s immune system to attack the nerves. There is no known cure, and according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, only about one or two out of every 100,000 people develop the disease.

Solomzi Nqweni with Cricket awards. Courtesy of Solomzi Nqweni

Nqweni said he didn’t understand what was happening to him at the time or why it was happening, considering he’d never heard of the disease before.

He shared his disbelief that something like this could happen to him as an athlete whose physical health is a priority.

“I did all the right things, let's say,” Nqweni said. “To have something like this just happen out of the blue for someone ‘like me’ who actually took care of themselves, I couldn’t believe it really.”

Nqweni on the cricket field pre-illness. Courtesy of Solomzi Nqweni.

Nqweni described his experience with the illness as something that literally happened overnight. The day prior, he began to feel fatigued and weak. Blaming it on his performance in his cricket match, he brushed it off. 

The day he discovered something was wrong, Nqweni was invited to watch what could be considered the final of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup with his flatmate, whose home country was playing. If not for New Zealand’s shocking loss in that match, Nqweni may not be here to tell his story.

“If you had to look at the situation, it was kind of like, they should’ve won easily,” Nqweni explained. “It was like a buzzer-beater, overtime kind of thing. They should never have lost that game. If they had won that game, my flatmate probably would have gone out to celebrate that night, and I would’ve been at the apartment on my own to die really.” 

That night Nqweni and his flatmate realized something was wrong when he could not move his legs. Still hopeful that everything would be fine after he rested, Nqweni went to bed. When he woke up to use the restroom, he quickly realized something was happening to him.

“I was trying to find some kind of way to get myself up, but I couldn’t, and I ended up falling off of the couch onto the floor,” Nqweni said. “When I was on the floor was when I kind of realized ‘something is happening and it’s not good.’”

Eventually, Nqweni was able to wake his flatmate and call an ambulance. He said this is the last thing he remembers before waking up in intensive care, fully paralyzed and only able to move his eyes.

Nqweni while hospitalized. Courtesy of Solomzi Nqweni.

Nqweni said his experience made him realize how strong of a support system he has. After hearing about what happened, his family, friends, teammates and more were all by his side as he recovered.

“I always say I knew my family was close, and we loved each other, but I didn’t realize how much they actually loved me until I went on this traumatic journey,” Nqweni said. “My girlfriend also flew in immediately…. My friends from the city, they showed up in a big way. My teammates, the doctors, the nurses, there were priests that would come and pray for me every single day. I would say, given that, I was quite lucky that I had a good support system that was there for me.”

Solomzi Nqweni and his girlfriend (post-illness). Courtesy of Solomzi Nqweni.

Nqweni described his recovery process as nothing short of difficult. He shared his experience using a system that allowed him to communicate with his eyes by blinking. Though it took nearly 10 minutes to spell a word like ‘hot,’ it was his only form of communication. 

Nqweni even admitted to a point where he began to question his own faith and why this was happening to him. He became more in-tune with his recovery process once he stopped this line of thinking. 

“My faith was quite strong,” Nqweni shared. “I questioned God, like, ‘why did he put me in this situation?’ But I think at some point, my mind just changed, like instead of asking ‘why God, why me?’ and focusing on who I was, I then began to accept and ask myself: ‘why not me?’ in the sense that, what makes me so special as a person that someone… must suffer this pain and I mustn't suffer it.”

After months of therapy and hard work, Nqweni began to show his first signs of progress. He said that he took pride in the small victories. 

“Maybe my thumb moved on Monday; by Friday my pinky moved,” Nqweni said. “I was starting to get excited for these little victories.”

Eventually, Nqweni accepted the fact that he'd be starting his life from the beginning. His professional cricket career is over, but he has degrees in both economics and law as well as a career in retail property development. He said he feels that he has the base to start the rest of his life.

Today, Nqweni is almost fully recovered. He hopes to not only continue to grow and maintain his independence but also spread awareness about his illness and experience.

“I’m definitely looking into how I can create awareness around this illness and create access to the resources you’re gonna need,” Nqweni said. “Being sick is quite expensive. I’m lucky I had the right medical insurance, the right supporters… if I didn’t have that, it’d be a completely different recovery journey than what it’s been.

To keep up with Nqweni, his life and recovery, follow him on social media.

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