CHANTRY –– David Chant is a changed man: happy, energetic and 40 lbs. heavier.

Earlier this year, Chant was facing death. No longer able to help out on the dairy farm, he was wasting away, down to 140 lbs., depressed, chronically tired and hallucinating at night. Physicians thought it was cancer but couldn’t find it. He was told to go home and face the facts. "In January, it looked like boot hill," said Chant, who is 57.

Family and friends prayed. Then his brother Paul saw a television program about Whipple’s disease, an extremely rare bacteria in soil, known to kill farmers and landscapers, particularly white males. There are only 800 known cases in the world since 1980. More than 90 per cent of those suffering from the illness get an accurate diagnosis at their autopsy. It’s so rare that a physician in France, who has treated only four cases, is considered an expert.

Turned out Paul was right about Whipple’s. Injections of penicillin were started immediately and within two days Chant was a new man, filled with hope and growing strength. That was late January. By March, Chant was able to help out in the sugar bush. And now, seven month’s after he thought his was a dead man, he’s putting in full days on the farm. He still can’t handle a full day of haying like he used to but after three years of sickness, doctors tell him he’ll need a year to recover fully. He figures his strength and stamina are at 80 per cent of full capacity. "I still tire easily. I don’t mind milking."

The one thing that might not recover are his teeth. "Scurvy got them," he said, explaining that he couldn’t keep food down for months. He lost pieces of some of his teeth and his dentist told them he could lose them all.

It has become a bit of joke now that Chant’s veterinarian figured out the treatment first, suggesting four months before treatment began that they give Chant penicillin, which is what he would give the cows and then watch for a reaction.

Chant is now back up to his normal weight of 180 lbs. and said his doctor shook his head in disbelief at his August 8 appointment. "You’re the miracle man," Chant was told.

Chant’s wife Sandra is a nurse and recalled the harrowing odyssey that brought her husband to the brink of death. "Something was taking this man’s life," she said, recalling how mystified and frustrated everyone was. Then suddenly, thanks to David’s brother seeing a documentary, doctors agreed it could be Whipple’s. Chant was admitted to the Kingston General hospital, where the only other case of Whipple’s disease was in 1974. "After two or three days he was on the mend," Sandra said. "He bounced right back. We’re thrilled. We’re very thrilled. I’m not naive enough to think we’re right out of the woods completely. But I think there was some divine intervention there."

She said the Pentecostal family has always drawn strength from their Christian faith. "David’s father was looking down on him as well," she said. " I think things turned out they way it was supposed to be."

Injections of penicillin were started immediately and within two days Chant was a new man, filled with hope and growing strength. That was late January. By March, he was able to help out in the sugar bush. Now, seven months after he thought he was a dead man, he’s putting in full days on the farm. He still can’t handle a full day of haying as he used to but after three years of sickness, doctors tell him he’ll need a year to recover fully. He figures his strength and stamina are at 80 per cent of full capacity. "I still tire easily. I don’t mind milking."

The one thing that might not recover are his teeth. "Scurvy got them," he said, explaining that he couldn’t keep food down for months. He lost pieces of some of his teeth and his dentist told him he could lose them all.

It has become a bit of a joke now that Chant’s veterinarian figured out the treatment first, suggesting four months before treatment began that they give Chant penicillin, which is what he would give the cows and then watch for a reaction.

Chant is now back up to his normal weight of 180 lbs. and said his doctor shook his head in disbelief at his August 8 appointment. "You’re the miracle man," Chant was told.

Chant’s wife Sandra is a nurse and recalled the harrowing odyssey that brought her husband to the brink of death. "Something was taking this man’s life," she said, recalling how mystified and frustrated everyone was. Then suddenly, thanks to David’s brother seeing a documentary on the disease, doctors agreed it could be Whipple’s. Chant was admitted to the Kingston General Hospital, where the only other case of Whipple’s disease was in 1974. "After two or three days he was on the mend," Sandra said. "He bounced right back. We’re thrilled. We’re very thrilled. I’m not naive enough to think we’re right out of the woods completely. But I think there was some divine intervention there."

She said the Pentecostal family has always drawn strength from their Christian faith. "David’s father was looking down on him as well," she said. " I think things turned out the way it was supposed to be."