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.
