SHREVEPORT, LA
KSLA-TV
A Shreveport firefighter is spending his first night at home since undergoing a lifesaving liver transplant.
“I’m great. I’m great. If I get any better, I couldn’t handle it,” said Capt. Gene Williams, as a nurse wheeled him into a conference room at Willis-Knighton Medical Center.
Williams spoke to the media Friday morning, for the first time since his life-threatening ordeal began.
After returning from a Florida vacation last month, Williams said, he and his wife, Julie, suddenly took ill. Doctors diagnosed them both with Hepatitis A, and like 90-percent of those who contract the illness, Julie Williams made a complete recovery. However, her husband quickly slipped into a coma and his liver shut down, leaving him in critical need of an organ transplant.
“Most of us felt very strongly that if we would not get the liver for him in 72 hours, he probably would not made it,” said Gazi Zibari, MD, the LSU Health Sciences Center surgeon who performed Williams’ liver transplant.
Less than 24 hours after his family made a tearful plea for a donor, Williams had the liver he desperately needed.
“That’s something you have to think about, you know?,” said Williams. “Someone had to pass away in order for me to live.”
His wife sees it more as an answer to a prayer.
“We never gave up hope that we would get one,” said Julie Williams. “Dr. Zibari kept reassuring us we would get one, we would get one.”
Even with his new liver, though, Williams faces a tough recovery which includes months of medication.
“He’s taking three anti-rejection therapy and with time, we’re hoping to reduce those down to one,” said Zibari.
Williams won’t be able to return to work until next year. In the meantime, the firefighter encourages others to save lives.
“The donor program is something everybody needs to look into,” said Williams.