Since his transplant, Will has been able to enjoy fishing on the weekends with his daughter again.
Will Calhoun was a man in motion. A physically active job, a busy parent, an active coach, and member of his church didn’t leave him much time for sitting. As a carpenter, he was used to lifting heavy objects every day, and didn’t give it much thought. But this time, something felt different. Immediately, he felt the pain in his neck which radiated down his left shoulder to his arm. He continued trying to work as usual, but a few months later, he began to feel numbness in his arms and shoulders, making lifting impossible. By the time Will finally saw a neurosurgeon, strength and sensation on his left side was almost gone and he was diagnosed with 2 herniated disks in his cervical spine. The evenings he spent passionately coaching special needs children in baseball and coaching a wrestling team would come to an end, as would the weekend fishing trips with his daughters. No longer able to work as a carpenter, the financial strains began to have an impact on his family. Surgery was the only option if he wanted to return to the life he once loved and to care for his loved ones.
Will’s surgeon inserted a bone graft into the disc space to stabilize the cervical disc segment. Immediately following his surgery, the pain in his arm, neck and shoulders were instantly gone. Within 3-4 months, he was back to doing carpentry work and soon after was back to coaching again. Will later learned that the bone graft used in his surgery came from donated human tissue and that he could write to the family who donated this precious gift to him. In his letter to them, he expressed his gratitude for the blessings of the gift bestowed to him. “Your special gift and donation has allowed me to continue working and providing for my family, coaching, and enjoying precious weekends fishing with my daughters again. Something good came from the loss of this life, and I was the blessed beneficiary of this gift”.