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| Bill Gillespie and Sec Land Shining Star |
Bill Gillespie
(liver recipient and Gift of Life volunteer) at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
The first time that Bill Gillespie ever heard about organ transplantation was in the fall of 1987, when his youngest son Jim was in the hospital with what seemed like a case of the flu.Two days later, he was air lifted to U of M Medical Center. There it was determined that Jim a virus had damaged his heart muscle. They were told that Jim would need a heart transplant to survive.
Jim was only 15 years old at the time; this started the longest year and a half of their lives, which included multiple visits to the emergency room and weeks at a time in intensive care. Then in July of 1989, Jim got the call. A heart was available. Bill was at work when his wife Rose called him from the hospital. Bill doesn't even remember driving to Ann Arbor. "I think this was the first time it really hit us that this was really going to happen, he was getting a new heart and a second chance at life," says Bill.
Two days later, Jim was awake and talking like nothing ever happened, and within two weeks he was home and doing great. He went back to high school that fall and graduated a year late because of all the school he had missed. "He enrolled in Monroe Community College, worked part time and got a new truck. He played ball with his brothers, he was a new kid," says Bill.
Then in December of 1992, Jim was at the hospital getting some routine tests when Bill and Rose got another call, Jim had died of sudden cardiac arrest. "Too soon, too young; you never get over it. We were thankful for the fantastic two and a half years we had with him feeling great," says Bill.
According to Bill, "In 1994 I started getting sick all the time, it seemed like everything was going wrong, my weight had gone to 235 lbs and I was weak." The doctors didn't know what was wrong with Bill's liver other than it was not working right and he was retaining too much fluid. As his condition continued to deteriorate, he took an early retirement from Ford Motor Company.
In September of 1995 Bill was referred to Dr. Brown at Henry Ford Hospital. She said that Bill might be a candidate for a liver transplant. He spent the night at the hospital to undergo some routine tests and was told that he could go home the next day, but apparently things didn't go well. Bill had sudden onset liver failure and went into a coma. "My system was poisoned and I was on a vent. I was in a coma for the next 10 days. Rose was there everyday in her wheelchair. She had lost her leg only 4 month before this. Nothing would stop her; she was the strongest person I have ever known," says Bill.
On October 13, 1995 I started my new life as a liver transplant patient. I was really weak because of all the time in a coma but I recovered quickly and was home passing out candy on October 31.
Since his transplant, Bill never let his liver slow him down. He actively promotes donor awareness in his community and across the state. Bill has volunteered with Gift of Life Michigan since 1999 and has done a variety of programs including:
- Secretary of State Buddy Day/Week - a statewide event to promote donation in local Secretary of State branch offices.
- staffing information tables at local donor drives, shared his transplant story at local schools, clubs and churches.
- Staffing a donor information table at Henry Ford Hospital during their donation awareness week.
- Organizing the Henry Ford Hospital Liver Transplant Program's Annual Golf Outing - now in its 11th year!
- Given multiple radio interviews on behalf of Gift of Life promoting donation across the state.
- Worked with Gift of Life hospital development coordinators to educate hospital staff on best donation practices.
- Helped to usher donor families at Gift of Life's Annual Betty Buckley Donor Family Ceremony for the past several years.
In addition, Bill is a member of the Recipient Advisory Committee (RAC) which works to give feedback to Gift of Life Michigan on a variety of programs, activities and issues. The RAC also brings Gift of Life's mission, call to action and activities back to their local support groups. He represents Henry Ford Hospital's liver transplant support group on this committee. Bill is also a member of the External Relations Committee (ERC) which is a committee comprised of transplant surgeons, recipients, donor families, and Gift of Life staff to promote donation legislative initiatives. Bill was also on the planning committee for the 2006 Transplant OIympics, helping to coordinate their efforts.
Bill has volunteered over 200 service hours in the last 3 years alone and for this he is
indeed,
a shining star!
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