Fallen Husky fights

Football is a violent, dangerous sport. From week to week players are expected to fight through the pain -- it's simply accepted as part of the game. Football players constantly battle nagging injuries, and some are forced to retire, in some cases left with crippled, worn-down bodies that ache from years of on-the-job physical abuse.

However, despite its many dangers, it's rare that football manifests into the source of pain and struggle that one former Husky gridiron star and his family are now dealing with every hour of every day.

This month, doctors have been monitoring the success of a fairly rare procedure intended to breathe life into Curtis Williams' paralyzed body, injured Oct. 28, 2000, in a collision with Stanford running back Kerry Carter. On June 6, Williams endured a neurosurgical procedure intended to allow him to breathe without a ventilator -- the machine that has assisted his every breath since the injury to his spinal cord.

Less than nine months ago, Williams had his mind on far different matters.

Curtis Williams, nicknamed C-Dub, was known as a crushing hitter and a defensive leader from his strong safety position. He was a man to be feared, one of the top athletes on a special Husky football team. He was a finely tuned athlete who, during a fine career, had made hundreds of tackles, many of them with the precision and the ferocity of a head-on car crash.

Last season, as a senior, Williams added to his credentials as one of the Pac-10's best defensive backs, including his performance last October in the Stanford game. The Huskies were entrenched in a tight spot, scratching and clawing just to keep the score close, and by all accounts Williams played brilliantly. He racked up nine tackles during only three quarters of play, leading defensive stands that ultimately helped the Dawgs win the game.

Then, in a flash, one play -- one tackle -- forever changed Curtis Williams' life and the lives of those around him.

On that play, Williams, 23, injured his spinal cord in a helmet-to-helmet collision with Carter, leaving him motionless on a rain-soaked field. In an instant, Williams became a quadriplegic, losing all feeling and control of motion from the neck down.

Following the injury, Williams was treated at the Stanford University Medical Center and later transferred to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center to begin several months of therapy. The following update examines Williams' current condition following his successful surgical procedure.

The surgery

During his recent surgery, a small device described as a phrenic nerve pacemaker was implanted under the skin near Williams' collarbone. The pacemaker electrically stimulates the phrenic nerve, which directly invigorates Williams' diaphragm, a muscle that aids breathing. Dr. Daniel H. Kim, the Stanford neurosurgeon who performed the procedure, said the surgery was very successful and that Williams responded well.

Now comes the long-term rehabilitation. Kim, who has performed this surgery several times, estimated that patients need six to 12 months to become completely independent of a ventilator.

Following Williams' surgery, doctors waited four weeks to activate the pacemaker device. Premature activation would have risked dislodging the implanted device, but the monthlong wait allowed an electrode to bond with the phrenic nerve while the scar from the surgery healed, Kim said.

Now back with his family, Williams returns to Stanford every few weeks to continue testing the device. He is retraining his diaphragm, unused since the injury, and strengthening it through progressively longer sessions of exercise. During these sessions, the ventilator is turned off while a team of Stanford pulmonary experts closely monitors Williams' response. On the first attempt, he was able to breathe for more than three hours without the aid of the ventilator.

The next few months are critical for Williams. Doctors will challenge him to go longer and longer without the ventilator, but there is very little danger associated with the process, said Kim; Williams will be monitored closely by trained care specialists.

Kim described the process as "the first step in trying to restore his personal functions." In the best-case scenario, Williams would be taken completely off the ventilator, which would allow him to speak normally. Currently Williams can only speak in short, rough bursts whenever his ventilator pushes enough air into his lungs. In addition, he would gain improved mobility -- the ventilator is big and heavy and it's attached to his wheelchair -- and he would probably not need to endure hourly suctions, which are required to remove saliva from Williams' throat.

All of these seemingly minor benefits would make Williams extremely happy, said his attorney Mike Hunsinger.

"He'll feel more independent -- that's the most important thing, anything to make him feel more independent," he said.

Curtis, his family and his fans

Hunsinger, who has frequently visited with Williams and his family, characterized Williams with four words: determined, frustrated, accepting and grateful.

"First and foremost, he's determined -- he will be the single greatest, most accomplished quadriplegic there is," said Hunsinger.

Still, Williams is enormously frustrated by his helplessness. His goal is to become less dependent on others, and all of his focus and attention is on that, Hunsinger said.

Acceptance has also set in. "He's accepted his situation -- that it's likely permanent," Hunsinger said. "At the same time, he knows miracles can happen."

Williams believes if he continues to fight, medical technology may catch up and change his situation.

Finally, Hunsinger said Williams is extremely grateful. He is grateful to his brother David and his sister-in-law Chris, who, according to Hunsinger, have taken Williams in and completely adapted their lives and made sacrifices to help him. Williams currently lives with them and their two daughters in Fresno, Calif., his hometown.

David Williams, 37, took an extended leave from his job as a full-time manager at a medical waste facility to learn how to take care of his younger brother. The hospital staff taught him how to adjust and clean the ventilator, how to clean Curtis' bowels and how to move him safely. After returning to his job, David was able to shift his work schedule around in order to care for Curtis. Williams' elderly parents live nearby and help when they can, but David bears the brunt of caring for his brother.

Besides his brother, Hunsinger says Williams is grateful to the UW as well, especially to the fans that sent him letters and personal messages (a handful of the hundreds of messages Williams has received are displayed at www.gohuskies.com).

"He loves the letters and he reads all of them," Hunsinger said. By learning to hold a pen with his mouth, Williams has personally signed his initials on more than 500 thank-you cards. The thank-you notes are sent out to donors of the Curtis Williams Fund, created in November 2000, which has now raised $318,000. The fund was established to assist Williams with expenses over and above those covered by family, University and NCAA insurance programs, expenses that the Williams have not had to draw on -- yet.

The money

In the midst of fighting for some sense of independence, Williams must deal with other distractions that further complicate his situation. He and his family prefer that he remain at home. While he is covered by the NCAA's catastrophic coverage policy, worth up to $20 million in lifetime benefits, the insurance policy does not entirely cover home health care.

Hunsinger has told Mutual of Omaha, the NCAA's insurance provider, that in-home care could actually be less expensive than care at an institution, but the insurance company won't cover 24-hour care unless the patient lives in a nursing home.

The NCAA's policy provides $100,000 a year for home care, which translates to 72 hours of home nursing per week in Fresno. That leaves David and other family members responsible for the remaining 96 hours of care -- which Hunsinger says creates a strain on both funds and relationships.

The future

Even among all of the struggles and uncertainties he's endured during the last nine months, Curtis hasn't lost sight of an important goal -- getting his degree. Using either a voice-operated or Braille-operated computer, Hunsinger said Williams will resume taking UW classes next year to complete his degree in American ethnic studies.

The Daily will continue to follow Curtis Williams as he continues his rehabilitation and attempts to complete his degree. Contributions to the Curtis Williams Fund should be sent to: The Curtis Williams Fund, c/o The University of Washington, 1200 Fifth Ave., Suite 500, Seattle, WA, 98101.

For more information on phrenic nerve pacemakers, please visit the following:

www.gallilaw.com/phrenic.htm

www.gallilaw.com/breath.htm

Curtis Williams Timeline

Oct. 28, 2000

-Williams suffers spinal injury against Stanford

-Admitted to the Stanford University Medical Center

Nov. 2000

-Williams begins rehabilitation therapy at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose

-The Curtis Williams Fund is established

Feb. 15, 2001

-Williams is discharged from the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center

-He is relocated to Fresno to live with his brother David and his family

June 6, 2001

-Doctors perform a procedure at the Stanford Medical Center, inserting a pacemaker-type device to stimulate Williams' diaphragm and to assist with his breathing

June 18, 2001

-Williams and his family are featured on HBO's monthly magazine show Real Sports

July 5, 2001

-Doctors begin the long-term process of removing Williams from his ventilator