A western Minnesota woman is speaking out about her life-changing experience with West Nile virus amid a rise in reported cases.

Clarissa Sparkl, 37, of Montevideo, experienced a case so severe that she now stays in an assisted living facility.

"Once you get West Nile, there is nothing you can do about it. It takes a week to diagnose it," Lori Winterfeld, Sparkl's mom, said.

That's how long it took to diagnose Sparkl's condition. By that time, her health had taken a turn for the worse.

"She got sick on a Friday, and by Monday she was hospitalized and intubated," Winterfeld said. "The only thing she could move initially were her eyebrows. And then she could eventually blink. It's been a long, long haul."

Sparkl added, "I didn't know what happened because I was young and healthy."

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