After one of the dozens of operations — this one in which surgeons cut and separated the bones in his face and skull to allow his brain to grow — a beleaguered Justin Williams looked up and said something that wrenched his father’s heart.
“Dad, if I have to go through that again, please just let me die.”
John Williams and his wife, Stacy, were not about to let that happen to their son, who not only has lived but has thrived despite the agonizing physical pain caused by his medical condition and the mental anguish of being looked upon as different. This is why Williams, a just-graduated senior basketball player at Foundation Academy, is the recipient of the Orlando Sentinel’s Bill Buchalter Spirit Award that annually goes to a local athlete who has overcome immense obstacles in the pursuit of excellence.
Justin Williams was born with Apert syndrome, a genetic condition in which the the bones in the skull, face and limbs are fused together and not separated in the womb. Fortunately, his parents did not know of the condition before he was born.
“It turned out to be a blessing that we didn’t know,” John says. “We talked to some parents who did know and they were basically told to not go through with the pregnancy and to abort the child because there’s just too much that can go wrong.”
Justin Williams is a living, breathing, shining, defining example of what can go right. He had his first skull separation surgery at 9 months old and has had at least a dozen major surgeries and countless other procedures along the way. His parents have spent months and months sleeping in chairs at the hospital, relying on a faith and love and hope that Justin could somehow, someway live a relatively normal life.
Little did they know then that there would be this much light at end of a dark and dubious tunnel.
“There has been a lot of pain along the way, and I’m proud of all I’ve been able to overcome it,” Justin says. “I trusted in God and knew that everything was going to work out.”
One of the main reasons his parents enrolled Justin at Foundation Academy — a private Christian school in Winter Garden — as a kindergartner is because they wanted him in an intimate, sheltered environment where he would grow up with his classmates.
His parents have stories of Justin being ridiculed at public playgrounds by other kids or that horrid, cringe-worthy lady who once approached them at Walmart and said, “What are you doing with that little monster?”
“Nobody would ever dare do or say anything against Justin because everybody at Foundation has his back,” said the school’s basketball coach Nathaniel Hughes. “Everybody at Foundation loves Justin and wants to be around him because of his unbelievable attitude.”
Says Jacob Crain, one of Foundation’s star players: “Justin is an inspiration to all of us. It’s amazing that after all he’s been through, he’s always happy and has a smile on his face.”
His father played basketball back in the day and figured it was the one sport where Justin could still play even with his physical limitations. Football, of course, was too violent and baseball would be nearly impossible because Justin had trouble keeping a glove on fingers that have no knuckles.
So Dad taught him how to play basketball on the hoop in the driveway and Justin fell in love with the game. Of course, he was terrible at first and got frustrated, but this try-hard kid wasn’t about to give up. Never has. Never will. You see, everything he does is harder — whether it be putting on his shoes or brushing his teeth — which is why his life is a lesson in persistence and perseverance.
“Justin has had to learn things his own way,” his father says. “I can teach somebody else where to put their hands when they shoot a basketball, but with him, it was like, ‘Hey, you’re going to have figure out what works for you.’ One thing he is not is a quitter and he stuck with it and figured it out.”
He figured it out to a point where he became one of the best shooters, the heart and soul and the most popular player on the team. He had a game against rival Legacy Christian Academy in which he scored 17 and hit five 3s.
“I think because of the way I look people underestimate me sometimes and think, ‘He can’t shoot,’” Justin says. “I love to step on the court and prove them wrong.”
And his fellow students at Foundation Academy love it just as much. Every game, without fail, they stood and cheered and chanted, “We want Justin! We want Justin! We want Justin!” When he won the Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Basketball Courage Award in April, the entire school gathered for a pep rally in his honor.
“We’ve all learned something from Justin,” Hughes says. “We’ve learned to not let obstacles stand in the way of our goals and keep us from moving forward. I look at my own life and the things I complain and get frustrated about then I look at Justin and say to myself, ‘Wait a minute, why am I complaining? Why am I frustrated.’ Justin could get up every day and be frustrated and complain about something, but he doesn’t. He never makes excuses.”
Not through all the years, the tears and the fears.
There was a time this kid — this amazing, incredible kid — endured such excruciating pain that he wanted to die.
Instead, he has not only lived; he has thrived.
Bill Buchalter, the legendary Sentinel high school sports writer, passed away several months ago at the age of 81.
It’s good to know his spirit lives on through Justin Williams.
And you know what else?
We’d all be better off if we lived with the spirit of Justin Williams.
