Oak Hill, WV (WOAY) – Plateau Medical Center in Oak Hill joined more than 100,000 hospitals across the country Thursday in raising a flag to mark Donate Life Month, shining a light on a need that hits close to home for many across the Mountain State.
Plateau Medical Center H.R. Marketing Director, Stephanie Adkins, said the ceremony was an opportunity to draw attention to the scale of the need.
“There are over 500 people in West Virginia now waiting on organ or transplant donations at this time,” Adkins said. “One person can save up to eight lives by being an organ donor.”
One of those 500 is Clay Williamson, a 39-year-old father, husband and co-owner of Retro Reset in Beckley. Last December, an 18-day hospital stay revealed that years of undiagnosed diabetes had destroyed his kidney function. He is now on dialysis three days a week and on the transplant list, but his O-positive blood type complicates the search. While the average wait for someone his age runs six months to a year, Williamson says being O-positive pushes that estimate to three to six years.
“It’s kind of like being pregnant,” Williamson said. “You’re just waiting for your water to break. Because when I get the phone call, I got 6 hours to get to Charleston and it’s go time hoping that everything works out.”
Also at the ceremony Thursday was Tabitha Adkins, a kidney transplant recipient who spent years on dialysis before receiving a donor kidney on July 4, 2023. She described getting the call at 4 a.m. that a match had been found, a moment she said was equal parts joy and disbelief.
“I started to realize how bad I had been feeling because I felt so great,” Adkins said. “Life has just been truly a blessing, and the doors that God has opened up for me since then has been tremendous.”
When told about Williamson’s search, Adkins had words of encouragement for him directly.
“Just keep going,” she said. “There’s a purpose for your story and every day is just adding to that story. The test for the testimony that’s coming soon.”
Williamson said being there for his family is what drives him through the uncertainty of the wait.
“I’m a father. I’m a husband. My daughter. I want to see her grow,” he said. “Just being able to do those things is the main thing. Being there for my family and my daughter and my wife.”
Williamson says 30 people have already submitted a screening questionnaire but none have been approved as a match. He is urging anyone who might qualify not to count themselves out. Potential donors must be O-positive blood type. A short screening questionnaire is available at camc.tfaforms.net/f/donor-questionnaire to determine initial eligibility.
