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Nebraska (WOWT) — Dave Williams had physically sunk so low a couple of years ago he could hardly walk.
“Doctors had pretty much given me about 14 months to live,” he said in an interview with WOWT 6 News. “My lungs were pretty scarred and I was on about 10 liters of oxygen.”
Pulmonary Fibrosis was slowly draining Williams life and there was no cure, his options were few.
“I went on the waiting list at Iowa Lung Transplant Center for nine months,” he explained.
In March of 2018 the long awaited word that donor lungs were available came and Williams found himself under the knife. The thought of returning to championship form at the bowling seemed daunting as he began his recovery.
“They want you to walk the same day and man the pain hurt so bad,” recalled Williams. “I just fought myself through it and was determined to get back up and get back on my feet.”
Williams, who has won over $300,000 on the PBA tour since 1990, returned to the lanes in Omaha six months after his transplant operation.
“When I had the double lung transplant I was a little worried about bowling again,” he said. “By the grace of God I was able to get back out here on the lanes again, I had a pretty good support system, so I really appreciate everything that everyone has done for me.”
Williams had 187 perfect games in his career when he returned to the lanes. Two weeks later on October 29, 2018, still only able to carry about 25 pounds in his recovery therapy, Williams bowled another 300 game.
“It was quite amazing, I never thought I would shoot 300 again,” he said. “That was pretty awesome, I got a chance to do it in front of my parents and friends. And so that was a pretty exciting moment for me.”
Williams expects more exciting moments when he goes back on the PBA tour next spring. He has four regional titles to his credit and was named outstanding senior two years ago.
Dave said, “Hopefully I can go out next year and win a few national titles and really make Omaha proud.”
Knicely Done!
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