We all have the memories of people we went to school with and in may cases, because of our carriers, may or may not ever see them again except for the ones we were closes to and ran around with … the ones we had fun with. We also all have our class heroes. I have one, too.
He was a boy I didn’t even know though I went to school with him every day for three years. He ws standing a few feet behind me in our class photo … still I didn’t know him. And I certainly had no idea that he would ultimately be the person that would save my life.
My marriage and career took me away from Waco to Austin, Houston and Dallas. I was an Area Manager-Finance and Area Manager-Revenues and Public Affairs for SBC in Dallas, Texas where I retired in 1991 and moved to Winberley, Texas.
This boy, standing so close to me in that high school picture is responsible for keeping my quality of life strong for the past 13 years even after becoming so ill I was on oxygen and in an electric wheelchair for two years. He guided me to getting the gift of life that few of us need or receive … a lung transplant. He has kept me going for the past 7+ years since my transplant in 1999. The life expectancy of lung transplant patients is short … only 3 to 5 years when I received mine. Yet, I am alive and breathing and if you saw me today you wouldn’t know there was ever a thing wrong with me. He has saved my life so many times and is the most amazing doctor I have ever met. We should all be proud to have gone to school with such a man … Dr. Bill Deaton. I’ll call him Dr. Bill Deaton. He is my hero.
Sharon (Glass) Barlow
2007