After a life-threatening illness that led to him being dubbed the “sickest person in Ireland,” Middletown Township resident Matthew Small returned to Levittown last Friday.
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With all the excitement one would expect after nearly dying due to illness thousands of miles away and then returning home alive, Small was greeted by friends and family to his home. He is the son of Sandra and Greg Small. Greg is a Falls Township police Detective Greg Small.
“Besides the fact that I lost a lot of weight due to the fact I was bedridden, I feel pretty close to normal,” Small told 6abc. “It’s nice to be back in a place where I know where everything is, I know my routine.”
Small’s journey began late last year while he was visiting Ireland and became sick. However, his illness progressed and he was placed on a ventilator and his condition worsened.
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A GoFundMe for the family said Small had a common cold that progressed to pneumonia and then he contracted the flu. The sickness began to cause his kidneys to fail, it then was blamed for heart tissue issues, and finally he was diagnosed with sepsis, a life-threatening medical episode caused in response to an infection.
According to CBS News Philadelphia, Small was in the hospital for his 21st birthday. He also still has gaps in his memory from when he came out of a medically-induced coma.
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Sandra Small posted an update to the GoFundMe recently thanking family and friends for the support at home and in Ireland.
“My family and friends here in Ireland have kept me sane here while he recovers,” she wrote before coming home last week.
“Matt is doing so much better, the beard is growing back! He is putting on weight and regaining some stamina, he still has a long way to go, but day by day he will get there,” she added.
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The GoFundMe, which has raised more than $41,000 for the Smalls, noted the family has been a positive beacon in the Levittown community. Matt Small became an Eagle Scout in 2019 and helped build a BBQ pit for the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad.
“A lot of what helped me sit at ease and have peace of mind was all the people that came to support me,” Small said.
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