VIDALIA — Less than three weeks ago, Vidalia resident Charles White’s blood sugar soared to more than 1,300, sending him to the emergency room.

The soar in his blood sugar was due to diabetes, a condition White did not know he had until after he nearly died.

White spent a week in the intensive care unit at the hospital, and when The Dart landed on Gillespie Street in Vidalia he was sitting on the porch at his cousin’s house, resting from his recent medical stay.

“It was very scary and surprising to go through,” the 47-year-old White said. “I didn’t even know I had diabetes.”

White said the frightening days he spent in the hospital woulhave been much worse, but a surprise visit from his brother Spike White helped him get through the tough times.

“It just felt good to have my brother here,” he said. “It made things a lot easier.”

Spike was in Wisconsin when he heard his brother was taken to the emergency room, and he dropped everything he was doing to come lend a supportive hand.

“I had to be here for him,” Spike said. “There are nine of us siblings, and (Charles) was the only one (in Vidalia). This is my brother, and he didn’t need to go through anything like this alone.”

Spike said he made the long journey down in time to see his brother recuperate and be released from the hospital, and now he is staying with him to make sure everything is fine.

“My brother had to completely change his diet and he is on a bunch of new medications, some that he may have to take for the rest of his life,” he said. “He needs somebody to be with him during these first few changes.”

Before Charles’ hospital visit, Spike said he hadn’t been to Vidalia in three years, and that while the circumstances weren’t ideal, it was good to see his brother again.

“My family is spread out all over the country,” he said. “So it is always good to see any of them.”

Charles said he is going to continue to work on his diet and exercise to help with his diabetes, and he is lucky to have a brother that would drop everything he is doing to stay and help him get started.

“It makes me feel good to know I have a brother who would do that for me,” he said.

Charles said he knows his brother will have to leave eventually, but he is going to enjoy their time together until that happens.