The pressure to win football games and dealing with the recruiting process can cloud a prospect's priorities, but tight end Blake Williams of Mustang, Okla., doesn't need a reminder of how precious life is.
Williams, 6-5, 225 pounds, is expected this fall to play in his first football game since the ninth grade after being sidelined by what a doctor initially thought was asthma in 2011. As a sophomore he was unable to finish preseason practices, then sat out the season and missed about 40 days of school because of his condition.
"We were in and out with the doctors constantly," said Williams, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.53 second and plans to attend Arkansas' Advanced Camp on Saturday in Fayetteville.
During that summer, his health deteriorated even more.
"I couldn't walk, talk, eat, think, see. It was hard for me to breathe," Williams said. "I would lose feeling throughout my body. I would sometimes forget my parents' names, and I would forget where I was when I would wake up."
In August 2013, Williams and his mother Tammy traveled to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where he was diagnosed with a rare nervous disorder called Dysautonomia.
Dysautonomia is a catch-all term for various conditions in which the autonomic nervous system malfunctions. It affects the nerves that carry information from the brain and the spinal cord to numerous parts of the body.
After being diagnosed, Williams and his mother went to Newport Beach, Calif., in November 2013 to see Dr. Michael Arata, who performed a transvascular autonomic modulation to decompress two jugular veins and a vein near the kidney area. The surgery resulted in immediate relief and progress continued for months ahead.
"The life had been sucked out of me and I finally had it back," said Williams, who missed his entire junior year. "He said it would take a couple of years for the nerve endings to heal."
Williams said that Arata believes an injury to the tight end's right shoulder while pitching for the baseball team in 2010 caused scar tissue to build up between the clavicle and the top rib bone and impede nerve endings.
Almost two years later, Williams estimates he is at 90 percent. He started seeing Kevyn Kennedy, a naturopathic doctor in Oklahoma City, twice a week in April with hopes of a complete recovery.
"We think this summer is when we get the full experience," Williams said.
Williams has worked with a personal trainer who has been a source of encouragement. He recently attended a camp at North Carolina where he impressed tight ends coach Seth Littrell but left without a scholarship offer.
A day later, Littrell spoke to Williams and his mother over the phone after talking to Coach Larry Fedora and extended Williams his first scholarship offer.
"I started praying and thanking God for everything," Williams said. "I was just very, very grateful that he got me out the dark state I was in."
Williams' journey has made him grateful for what many take for granted.
"It's really crazy," he said. "Every day is a blessing for me. Every day is a gift. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning, I thank God for another day."
"I'm excited to get out of bed in the morning, just knowing a year and half to two years ago at this point I wouldn't be able to get out of bed but once a week."
LINEMAN SOLD
Offensive lineman Kellen Diesch made Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema and offensive line coach Sam Pittman happy when he went public with his oral commitment Monday.
"Fayetteville just felt like home," Diesch said. "It just felt right."
Diesch, 6-7, 275, 4.87, plays for Trophy Club (Texas) Byron Nelson and chose Arkansas over more than 20 scholarship offers from schools including Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee and Baylor.
He said he committed to the Razorbacks about two weeks ago because of his respect for the track records of Bielema and Pittman when it comes to putting linemen in the NFL.
"They just have a great history of linemen," Diesch said. "I like how they treat the linemen."
He said he knew he was going to be a Razorback about a month ago and told Pittman and Bielema two weeks ago. He and his parents, Mark and Amy, visited Fayetteville for the Northern Illinois game Sept. 20 and in March. They also attended the spring game in April.
"They're really excited for me," Diesch said of his parents. "They didn't have any negative thoughts."
Diesch said he believes Arkansas' pro-style offense will help him make it to the NFL.
"I just don't like the spread offense," Diesch said. "I just think it's better for O-linemen."
Diesch said he won't take any other visits.
"I'm done," Diesch said.
E-mail Richard Davenport at
rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 06/19/2015