MEET WILL

I want to take a moment to thank you for taking time to get to know my story.

I was a care-free and adventurous boy who loved others with my whole heart and had an unquenchable desire to live life to its fullest. That changed when I was diagnosed with craniopharyngioma, a congenital brain tumor, at 8 years old. Sadly, the tumor caused me to become totally blind at 13 years old. By the time I was 16 years old, I had gone through eight brain surgeries.

By the time I was 34, the craniopharyngioma led to the removal of my pituitary gland, the "master gland” responsible for regulating many life-sustaining bodily functions through the production of hormones. Without this vital organ, I have been required to take many medications to keep me alive. These life-saving medications led to the development of IgA Nephropathy, a type of Chronic Kidney Disease.

At age 43, my kidneys began a steady decline, leading to End Stage Renal Failure. Between 2021 and 2025, I was hospitalized nine times, had 14 surgeries, and survived two life-threatening infections. During the summer of 2023, I started dialysis treatments.

Late in 2024, I began the process of receiving a kidney transplant. On March 13, 2025, I got “the call” to inform me that I was officially approved and had been put on the waiting list.

I did not let my blindness and remaining brain surgeries stop me from trying to live my best life. I mastered independent daily living skills and jewelry-making, earned a license in Massage Therapy, led tours for a fully immersive blindness experience called Dialogue in the Dark, traveled independently on public transportation to Midtown Atlanta regularly, volunteered in the youth and kids ministries at my church, began motivational speaking, and met and married the love of my life in 2018.