Nov. 8, 2013 11 Sports The doctor told Brett Williams his son had five minutes to live. Zane Williams was born three weeks early and delivered by C-section, and had no feeling from his belly button down. Brett told the doctor to do whatever he could, but the doctor said he saw no need. He told Brett his son was unresponsive to a light test and had trouble breathing. Brett persisted. He got another surgeon — whom he described as “a great man” — involved. “He fought for Zane,” said Brett, a fifth-grade teacher at Oakdale and a Westside football coach. “He said, ‘I’ll do the surgery right now.’” Between Zane’s father and the other doctor, they persuaded the original doctor to perform a surgery to keep Zane alive. Zane went on to receive nine other procedures during the first two months after he was born. He spent those two months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) following birth. Nine years and about 35 other major medical procedures later, he is alive. He suffers from Arnold-Chiari malformation, which has elongated his brain stem and left him unable to speak or breathe normally. He also has Spina Bifida, a paralyzing spinal cord disorder. There are things he can’t do. He can’t walk, speak or breathe without a tracheostomy tube — “trach” for short — or feel below his belly button. But Brett’s left arm is covered with tattoos per- taining to Zane, and one of them reflects Zane’s father’s fight with people who have said what he can’t do defines him. “All the skulls are from doctors and therapists that said he can’t do something, whether ‘He can’t survive,’ or ‘He won’t be able,’ or ‘He’ll never,’” Zane’s father said. “We get rid of those people in our lives, and I put that [tattoo] as a reminder not to listen to the negatives of what they have [to say].” The main theme of the tattoos on Brett’s arm illustrates what does define Zane. “They all have a special meaning to me: [they are] reminders that keep me going,” Zane’s father said. “He has dealt with so much that when I have a little problem with a parent complaining about a grade or something, I just try to remember the big picture.” Westside football players have seen a similar side to Zane since he became part of the team last season. As a football coach, Zane’s father is away from home for large chunks of time during the football season. Zane’s mother, Jennifer, started to bring Zane to practice to see his father. Zane met line coach Shawn Blevins and the offensive linemen, but he was never fully introduced. “A couple players last season just kind of took to Zane, and without coaches even cueing them were just naturally drawn to him and would natu- rally go to him and initiate conversation with him, and pretty soon it was kind of catchy,” Blevins said. “It was like the flu because everybody started just catching it and going over to Zane and really latching onto a good friendship with Zane.” When the Warriors were facing Millard South at Westside last season, Zane got tired before halftime. He decided to go home. Before leaving, Jennifer brought him to say goodbye to his father. Zane and Jennifer sat near the entrance to the locker room waiting for Zane’s father. “As we were coming off the field, as coaches we noticed that it was taking a long time for the players to get into the locker room,” coach Wil- liams said. “And, you know, it’s a big game and they were No. 2 in the state last year. We’re like, ‘What’s going on? Why is this taking so long?’” Then the coaches saw the reason. “This mass of players that were four wide formed into a single-file line and showed him some love, and it kind of took off from there,” Blevins said. “No one asked them to do it, no coaches cued them to do it. Players just naturally did it. It was a pretty cool thing to see.” Giving Zane a high five or knuckles became a halftime tradition and Zane’s favorite part of Westside games. A smile flashed across his face as he explained, with sign language through his mother’s interpreting, that it is his favorite part because he “[gets] to dub all the players.” “He gets a little anxious when it gets close to halftime,” Brett said. “He gets on his mom to bring him down and make sure they’re in the right spot right by the locker room. It’s very exciting and something he looks forward to. It picks him up.” When talking about the football team, Zane’s eyes light up. He said coach Michael Jernigan is his favorite coach because Jernigan’s two children sit near him during the games, and he gave a spir- ited nod and a thumbs up to say Westside will win a state football title this season. He added, with a grin, that senior offensive lineman Tom Young is his favorite player. When Young met Zane, he saw the thrill Zane got from watching the team. “I saw that look in his eye that he was excited to be here,” Young said. “You know, he was excited to see all of these big, strong football players. He was just happy to be part of something. It was re- ally special.” But as much as the football team is able to do for Zane — allowing him to come to Sunday film sessions and to the weight room, along with prac- tices and games — Zane does as much, if not more, for them. “Zane’s just one of those kinds of people that just motivates you by being there because of his story, the story that coach Williams tells us about his life and about what he’s been through,” Young said. Blevins agreed. “Zane is just such a magical little kid,” he said. “He makes you put things into perspective. He just loves football so much. He comes to our prac- tices and loves seeing the coaches, loves seeing the players. And it just makes you step back and look at your life and realize you’re pretty fortunate for the things you have, but no matter the adversity you have, you can overcome it and enjoy yourself and enjoy life.” HALFTIME TRADITION Coach’s son inspires football team through presence, fist bumps By Aren rendell editor-in-chief Top: Zane Williams fist-bumps sophomore Spencer Jordan during halftime of Westside’s round one playoff game against Lincoln South- west, Friday, Nov. 1. Af- ter a 35-6 win, the War- riors will play Creighton Prep at Westside Friday, Nov. 8. Photo by Estella Fox Above: Brett Wil- liams shows his skull tattoo Wednesday, Oct. 30. The skulls symbol- ize people who tried to limit his son, Zane. Photo by Sarah Lemke Family Enrichment, Inc. A center for mental health Phone: 402-391-2477 820 S. 75th St. in a challenging world Fax: 402-397-4268 Omaha, NE 68114 Sponsored by Jodi Jurgens, LCSW, LIMHP familyenrichmentomaha.com
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
![Page 1: Sports Nov. 8, 2013 11 HALFTIME TRADITION€¦ · Zane’s father said. “We get rid of those people in our lives, and I put that [tattoo] as a reminder not to listen to the negatives](https://reader035.cupdf.com/reader035/viewer/2022070907/5f7d933097775d0adb18d982/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Nov. 8, 2013 11Sports
The doctor told Brett Williams his son had five minutes to live. Zane Williams was born three weeks early and delivered by C-section, and had no feeling from his belly button down.
Brett told the doctor to do whatever he could, but the doctor said he saw no need. He told Brett his son was unresponsive to a light test and had trouble breathing. Brett persisted.
He got another surgeon — whom he described as “a great man” — involved.
“He fought for Zane,” said Brett, a fifth-grade teacher at Oakdale and a Westside football coach. “He said, ‘I’ll do the surgery right now.’”
Between Zane’s father and the other doctor, they persuaded the original doctor to perform a surgery to keep Zane alive.
Zane went on to receive nine other procedures during the first two months after he was born. He spent those two months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) following birth. Nine years and about 35 other major medical procedures later, he is alive.
He suffers from Arnold-Chiari malformation, which has elongated his brain stem and left him unable to speak or breathe normally. He also has Spina Bifida, a paralyzing spinal cord disorder.
There are things he can’t do. He can’t walk, speak or breathe without a tracheostomy tube — “trach” for short — or feel below his belly button.
But Brett’s left arm is covered with tattoos per-taining to Zane, and one of them reflects Zane’s father’s fight with people who have said what he can’t do defines him.
“All the skulls are from doctors and therapists that said he can’t do something, whether ‘He can’t survive,’ or ‘He won’t be able,’ or ‘He’ll never,’” Zane’s father said. “We get rid of those people in our lives, and I put that [tattoo] as a reminder not to listen to the negatives of what they have [to say].”
The main theme of the tattoos on Brett’s arm illustrates what does define Zane.
“They all have a special meaning to me: [they are] reminders that keep me going,” Zane’s father said. “He has dealt with so much that when I have a little problem with a parent complaining about a grade or something, I just try to remember the big picture.”
Westside football players have seen a similar side to Zane since he became part of the team last season.
As a football coach, Zane’s father is away from home for large chunks of time during the football season. Zane’s mother, Jennifer, started to bring Zane to practice to see his father. Zane met line coach Shawn Blevins and the offensive linemen, but he was never fully introduced.
“A couple players last season just kind of took to Zane, and without coaches even cueing them were just naturally drawn to him and would natu-rally go to him and initiate conversation with him, and pretty soon it was kind of catchy,” Blevins said. “It was like the flu because everybody started just catching it and going over to Zane and really latching onto a good friendship with Zane.”
When the Warriors were facing Millard South at Westside last season, Zane got tired before
halftime. He decided to go home. Before leaving, Jennifer brought him to say goodbye to his father. Zane and Jennifer sat near the entrance to the locker room waiting for Zane’s father.
“As we were coming off the field, as coaches we noticed that it was taking a long time for the players to get into the locker room,” coach Wil-liams said. “And, you know, it’s a big game and they were No. 2 in the state last year. We’re like, ‘What’s going on? Why is this taking so long?’”
Then the coaches saw the reason. “This mass of players that were four wide
formed into a single-file line and showed him some love, and it kind of took off from there,” Blevins said. “No one asked them to do it, no coaches cued them to do it. Players just naturally did it. It was a pretty cool thing to see.”
Giving Zane a high five or knuckles became a halftime tradition and Zane’s favorite part of Westside games. A smile flashed across his face as he explained, with sign language through his mother’s interpreting, that it is his favorite part because he “[gets] to dub all the players.”
“He gets a little anxious when it gets close to halftime,” Brett said. “He gets on his mom to bring him down and make sure they’re in the right spot right by the locker room. It’s very exciting and something he looks forward to. It picks him up.”
When talking about the football team, Zane’s eyes light up. He said coach Michael Jernigan is his favorite coach because Jernigan’s two children sit near him during the games, and he gave a spir-ited nod and a thumbs up to say Westside will win a state football title this season. He added, with a grin, that senior offensive lineman Tom Young is his favorite player.
When Young met Zane, he saw the thrill Zane got from watching the team.
“I saw that look in his eye that he was excited to be here,” Young said. “You know, he was excited to see all of these big, strong football players. He was just happy to be part of something. It was re-ally special.”
But as much as the football team is able to do
for Zane — allowing him to come to Sunday film sessions and to the weight room, along with prac-tices and games — Zane does as much, if not more, for them.
“Zane’s just one of those kinds of people that just motivates you by being there because of his story, the story that coach Williams tells us about his life and about what he’s been through,” Young said.
Blevins agreed. “Zane is just such a magical little kid,” he said.
“He makes you put things into perspective. He just loves football so much. He comes to our prac-tices and loves seeing the coaches, loves seeing the players. And it just makes you step back and look at your life and realize you’re pretty fortunate for the things you have, but no matter the adversity you have, you can overcome it and enjoy yourself and enjoy life.”
HALFTIME TRADITIONCoach’s son inspires football team through presence, fist bumps
By Aren rendell
editor-in-chief
Top: Zane Williams fist-bumps sophomore Spencer Jordan during halftime of Westside’s round one playoff game against Lincoln South-west, Friday, Nov. 1. Af-ter a 35-6 win, the War-riors will play Creighton Prep at Westside Friday, Nov. 8. Photo by Estella Fox Above: Brett Wil-liams shows his skull tattoo Wednesday, Oct. 30. The skulls symbol-ize people who tried to limit his son, Zane. Photo by Sarah Lemke
Family Enrichment, Inc. A center for mental health
Phone: 402-391-2477
820 S. 75th St.
in a challenging world
Fax: 402-397-4268
Omaha, NE 68114
Sponsored by Jodi Jurgens, LCSW, LIMHPfamilyenrichmentomaha.com
jzegelis
Rectangle
Related Documents
