Charles Williams was sick on a business trip to California in the summer of 2019.
But it was not an ordinary sickness. He felt very ill and could not shake it off.
“I made it home and my wife took me to the doctor,” said Williams, a technical support specialist. “The doctor said, ‘You better go to the hospital right away.’ I get to the hospital. They didn’t know what was wrong with me. I got really sick.
“I actually died. My heart stopped for 7.7 seconds. One doctor just packed me in ice with a 105 fever. They didn’t know what to do. Then a doctor gave me a tracheotomy,” Williams continued. “That saved my life.”
He later learned that he had contracted COVID-19 before the world even knew what it was.
After recovering, Williams, an avid musician, concentrated on fitness and a healthy lifestyle.
But fast forward a few years later, and Williams, still feeling poorly, was told he was suffering from long-COVID symptoms − and they were getting worse.
By May 2024 he was fighting double pneumonia. Then that July, he found he had trouble catching his breath. A pulmonologist diagnosed pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic disease that causes irreversible scarring of the lungs.
He was put on oxygen, and he had to stop making music and singing because of his breathing problems.
“I just got worse and worse, worse and worse and weaker and weaker,” he said.
Not long after the diagnosis, Williams collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital. When his condition worsened, his wife Elena refused to accept the grim prognosis and insisted on a second opinion.
“They told my wife that I was dying,” Williams said. “They told her that I had about a 10% chance of life. She panicked and wouldn’t accept that answer. Every other doctor walked away from her, but she told my lung doctor at the time that we needed to do something. He said, ‘You got one hope. You got one hope. Temple University Hospital is your only hope.'”
Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia has a history of listing patients for transplants that may be turned down at other hospitals.
Within 90 minutes, he was flown by helicopter to Temple and put on an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine, which kept him alive.
“They kept me healthy until a donor was available, which was about three weeks,” Williams said.
He received a double lung transplant on Sept. 22, 2024.
The recovery was not easy but Williams credits those connected with Temple for his healing. The level of care that he received there was “second to none,” Williams said.
“Everything was incredible there. The doctors were unbelievable. The nursing staff − out of all the people I interacted with there − they are the hardest working people I’ve probably ever seen in my entire life,” he said. “When I woke up. I couldn’t use my legs; I couldn’t use my arms. I could lift my head a little. And I remember the guy came to get me for physical therapy. His name was Paul. He was an incredible guy. And I said, ‘I’m sorry, my legs don’t work. I’m dead weight.’ And he goes, ‘Well, you’re walking today, buddy.’ I took eight steps that day with his help.”
After that he went to rehabilitation.
“Paul was in my head every day. He would say, ‘You’re gonna hurt. It’s gonna hurt. You’ve got to take that hurt and you’ve got to absorb it. You’ve got to move on to the next day. You’ve got to be willing to hurt to walk again.’ And he was right,” Williams recalled.
About two and a half months later, Williams was able to walk.
“I had the surgery on Sept. 22, and I was home for Thanksgiving dinner,” he said. “I was able to walk around and cut the turkey and all that. I was able to go home and see my dog, Logan. That’s very emotional for me.”
Now 57, Williams knows he is one of the lucky ones. He is grateful for a second chance of life through a stranger’s gift of an organ.
“I don’t know how I would ever repay that kindness of a stranger − a family that would donate lungs to someone to give them the gift of life,” said Williams, whose brother also donated his organs when he passed away. “It’s the greatest gift you can ever give. Somebody gave me these lungs out of generosity of their heart. You don’t realize it. It’s an unbelievable thing. It’s earth-shattering.”
Music has played a major role in his return to a normal life.
“I’ve probably recorded 15 songs since this whole thing has happened to me,” he said. “I got my voice back. I can play guitar just like I always did before. I’m really back. I hope I make one great album before I close these baby blues.”
Williams has inspired everyone in his family to become donors. He plans to honor his donor and give back by sharing his music and advocating for organ donation.
“How could you not?” he said. “I don’t know who this person is at this time, but I would love to know. To thank them and put roses at their grave. Thank their family. How do you ever thank or repay them? How do you do that? What do you say? I have an appreciation for life now that I’ve never had before. It’s like I wake up every morning thinking I’m so lucky to be here.”
email: cmakin@gannettnj.com
Cheryl Makin is an award-winning features and education reporter for MyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or @CherylMakin. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
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