"I remember that it seemed like it was really dark, like my vision was closing in... and that's the last thing I remember," Dr. John Livingston tells Fox 25's Kisha Henry.

It was a mosquito bite that turned the Mercy Hospital Orthopedic Surgeon from doctor... to patient instantly. Dr. Livingston was in a coma for three weeks. He suffered inflamation of the brain, permanent neuromuscular damage, and was considered a quadriplegic.

"There are not very many cases of people who are infected as severely as he was," says Dr A.J. Bisson, Medical Director of Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital.

"It's not like Sleeping Beauty, where you lay in the casket for 100 years and somebody comes by and kisses you, and you bounce up and start dancing. It's not that way at all," says Dr. Livingston.

For the past six months, Dr. Livingston has been fighting an uphill battle. From learning how to breathe on his own again, to re-learning how to walk. "Now that we're talking about him going home next week-- it's nothing short of a miracle, to be honest," says Dr. Bisson.

"There were three other people who had West Nile and were on respirators, and I was the only one who lived," says Dr. Livingston.

So, what's the recipe to this miraculous recovery? An extra special incentive: as the troop committee chairman of a boy scout troop, Dr. Livingston wants to see his son become an Eagle Scout next week. "I had done it for all these other Scouts that had gone through and I really wanted to be able to do it for my son. I had to be there... becaus we've done that Scouting thing together," says Dr. Livingston. He's expected to be released just in time for the ceremony. Mercy staff say it's all thanks to his incredible motivation, but Dr. Livingston says he couldn't have done it without them. "I've had good help, good coaches and lots of prayers. The physical therapists are wonderful and my physcian, Dr. Bisson, has just been a king," says Dr. Livinston.

He does have one, important piece of advice to share: "Wear DEET. D-E-E-T," says Dr. Livingston, adding that he thinks he contracted the virus while out watering his bushes.

"The biggest thing anyone can do is prevention," adds Dr. Bisson.