Published 9/8/2006 :: The Columbia Star

Jumping at a Second Chance

Don't take your organs to heaven. Heaven knows we need them here.

By MIMI M. MADDOCK
Mimi@TheColumbiaStar.com

Jake Williams gave away the bronze medal he received at the National Transplant Games to his donor family.

It was May, 1999. Williams had a little wine and felt sick. It's the cabernet , he thought. Williams had a bit of watermelon and felt sicker. It's the watermelon , he thought. When he went to the bathroom, this 300 pound plus man passed out and fell into the bathtub.

His varices, which is the portal vein that carries approximately 1500 mL/min of blood from the small and large bowel, the spleen, and the stomach to the liver, had burst. He lost 78 pints of blood. When he got to Palmetto Health Baptist Hospital, he had one pint of blood left in his body.

This happened again in 2000 and again in 2001. The doctors then sent him to the University of North Carolina where they put him on blood thinners and strapped him down for 85 hours for fear if he moved he would bleed to death. His liver was eaten up with cancer. They put three stints in and built a wall graph around his liver to filter his blood.

In July 2004, he was very near death and was sent to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Char-leston, S.C. to await a liver transplant. His MELD (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) score was high. This meant he was near the top of the line for a liver transplant.

An organ came available December 18, 2004, his late mother's birthday. Before the surgery, his doctor and "best friend" Dr. Balgia said, "When we open you, if the cancer has spread, we will close you up, and you'll have about two weeks to live.

The transplant went well. He had one chemo treatment, and the cancer was contained. The team of doctors removed Williams from the hospital in three days because he was so vulnerable to disease. Williams said that on December 21, 2004, he was taken to Homestead because he had contracted pneumonia. The pain was unbearable. He couldn't sleep and had to keep propped up with his back on the headboard.

On December 27, 2006, he went back to MUSC with bleeding and 75 pounds of excess fluid.

On January 6, 2005, everything shut down. Vivian, Williams' wife, said when Jake's doctors heard the news, they closed the clinic and rushed to be with him. "They had such a bond with him. They loved his cheerfulness and his joking around."

"I was fighting, said Williams. "I said 'God, you promised me life.'" Right before he went into a coma, Williams heard a voice saying, "You can't have him." Williams was in a coma for ten days. During that time, he amazed the medical staff by flapping his arms.

On January 27, 2007, the doctors sent Williams home, his gut cut wide open. The doctors felt his body had had too much trauma to close him and open him again if they had too. His wife, Vivian, had to clean the opening four times a day.

"I never took my eyes off the Lord," said Williams. Miraculously, the opening closed and healed by itself. The scar on William's chest is a perfect cross.

Williams said before all this happened he was a "ruthless, take no prisoners business man." He owns Edifice Artist Company. Now his life has totally changed. He is so grateful to his donor family. He feels so much compassion for his fellow man. "I will go that extra mile now. I feel so much love. This has changed my life totally," said Williams.

The National Transplant games were held June 16-21, 2006. Williams was a participant and had promised to bring home a medal for his donor family. He won the bronze for the long jump! Williams said, "The people at the games are the most caring people in the world. There are no hand shakes, just hugs. We all come together as one. There are no barriers of any kind."

Williams predicts, in the next games in Pittsburgh, he will win gold medals in the 100 yard dash, 200 yard dash, and long jump.The medals will be for his donor, for his wife, and for the organization where he volunteers. He plans to lose 80 pounds. He is already training at 5 am at the Jude Fitness Center and in the evenings at the Columbia High School track.

Williams and his wife, a teacher at Columbia High School, have four grown children: Travis, Karman, Xyvinia, and Accorvia.

For information about being a donor, below.

Editor's note: Jake Williams will be glad to talk with anyone about being a donor or a transplant recipient. He can be reached at 256-7365 or 466-9656.