There’s More to the Picture: Alex Dahlberg’s Story

When Alex Dahlberg arrived in Wilmington last year and began taking classes at Cape Fear Community College, he was learning to live again.

“I started at Belmont University in Nashville in 2018,” Alex recalled. “I was getting a degree in music, playing guitar in a band, and learning a lot. I met so many new friends.”

But something didn’t feel right just as he was settling into college life.

“During my second semester, I just kept feeling off. I was getting checked for the flu and bronchitis. I kept having headaches and sore throats. I was feeling lightheaded all the time.”

A Sudden and Serious Diagnosis

By February 2019, Alex’s condition rapidly worsened after he was diagnosed with mononucleosis.

“My parents came and took me back to Georgia. I don’t remember being home,” he shared. “I was still responsive, but I disappeared in my head. I don’t remember going to the hospital. The next thing I know is waking up in a dark room with a needle in my arm. I did not know who anybody was.”

On February 26, 2019, Alex slipped into a coma. He was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr encephalitis, a rare and life-threatening brain infection that caused swelling in his brain and left him fighting for his life.

Waking Up a Different Person

“I was in a coma for about a month. When I woke up, I was on life support, hooked up to ventilators. Doctors said I had the brain of a seven-year-old. Even though I was responsive, I didn’t know my name or how to tie a shoe at age 19.”

Alex would go on to spend nearly a year in hospitals, first at Emory and then at the Shepherd Center for Intensive Rehabilitation in Atlanta.

“They had to teach me how to walk again,” he said. “They really didn’t know what would work, so they experimented and tried things. I was angry at myself, life, everything.”

“One nurse had this idea. She started labeling everything with sticky notes to help me remember what objects were. A door. A shoe. That nurse literally saved my life.”

Music Never Left Him

Through all the confusion, music was Alex’s anchor.

“There was a guitar in the hospital. Usually, when you pick up a guitar, it’s in standard tuning. This guitar was in drop D tuning,” he recalled. “While my parents were beside me, and I couldn’t remember who they were, I could play the drop D tuning of the song Everlong by the Foo Fighters.”

As he relearned how to walk and talk, music gave him purpose. “I couldn’t walk outside for a year or read because of anxiety attacks. I got a lot better at the guitar from playing in the hospital so much during that time.”

A New Beginning in Wilmington

After his hospital stay, Alex, determined to get back to school, began attending Kennesaw State University to stay close to family and therapy, but then the pandemic hit. “After fighting so hard to get my life back, the world just stopped.”

Eventually, Alex found his way to Wilmington. “My mom is from here. She said it’s a great place for the beach and fishing, which I love. Fishing helps take my mind off the trauma. I moved here by myself and found Cape Fear Community College by myself. I just needed a fresh start.”

Support at CFCC

With the help of CFCC’s supportive faculty, Student Accessibility Services , and opportunities on campus, Alex began to thrive.

“My first class was Jazz History with Marc Siegel. I got a 98 in that class,” he said proudly. “He’s in a band and plays guitar. I told him I was a musician, and he let me play his guitar after class. I have trouble remembering names, but not only did I remember his name, I could even spell it,” he laughed. “I am more appreciative of his class than he’ll probably ever know.”

“Everyone was so understanding, especially regarding accommodations for testing,” he added. “Gio in Accessibility Services was awesome. After my midterm, I told him, ‘I don’t think I did too well.’ Turns out, I got a hundred.”

He also found inspiration in one of CFCC’s most iconic spaces, the Wilson Center . “I was shocked when I found out a bunch of famous people play here,” Alex said. “Ziggy Marley, Bob Marley’s son, is playing here this year, and the cast of Napoleon Dynamite is coming this month.”

“For a community college, that speaks volumes. Actually, it speaks volumes for any college, even the big music schools.”

What’s Next

Alex is back to performing, playing solo shows around Wilmington at venues like Palate and Tap Yard. “I play guitar, harmonica, foot cymbal, and sing vocals simultaneously. Blues is my favorite genre to play, but I mix in a lot.”

In just a few days, Alex will graduate with honors, earning his Associate in Arts degree. Afterward, he plans to stay in Wilmington, a place that has become a source of peace and healing. “My goal is just to keep doing what I’m doing, staying focused, avoiding my triggers, managing anxiety and depression, and not being too hard on myself.”

Lyrics to Live By

Looking back, Alex reflects on everything he’s overcome.

“This whole experience really changed how I see life. I have what’s called an invisible disability. You can’t see what I’ve been through just by looking at me,” he said.

“One of my favorite lyrics is from Hey Hey, My My by Neil Young. I got it tattooed on my arm. The verse is, ‘There’s more to the picture than meets the eye.'”