Fight for life: 10-year-old Jimmy Williams awaits heart transplant at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital

Ten-year-old Jimmy Williams of Jackson is staying strong through the support of friends and family — and a recent visit from St. Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube with the Stanley Cup — as he awaits a heart transplant at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis.

“Golf is his passion, but he loves baseball, too,” close friend of the family Beth Becker Daugherty said Friday, adding, Berube brought the Stanley Cup by Jimmy’s hospital room. Daugherty posts daily updates concerning Jimmy’s condition on social media.

While at a golf tournament in Florida near the beginning of August, Daugherty said Jimmy began vomiting uncontrollably, and over the next few weeks it continued. He was unable to eat. Jimmy was admitted to Cardinal Glennon following a gastrointestinal consultation.

“It happened fast,” she said. Echocardiogram results showed Jimmy’s heart was enlarged and only functioning at 16%, Daugherty said, adding, “You’re talking a boy who has played travel baseball all summer, and has played in a huge golf tournament.”

She said Jimmy went from being “a perfectly healthy boy” to needing a heart transplant.

Daugherty said doctors first thought the condition could be managed with medication, reversing the damage, “but his heart wasn’t responding to that.” A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) device was surgically installed last week to help his heart pump, she said.

The operation went great, she said, but doctors discovered more scar tissue than expected. There was too much damage done for the heart to repair itself.

Jimmy is now relying on the LVAD until a heart transplant is available.

By text message Friday evening, Jimmy’s father, Jim Williams, said Jimmy’s mood “is always positive, thankful, and even apologetic toward his nurses.”

“His energy level varies throughout the day but has continued to get up and do whatever is asked,” Williams wrote. “He is exhausted by (the) end of each day.”

Williams said Jimmy “wants to get out” and return to his life as an active, athletic 10-year-old boy.

Jimmy is still very critical, Daugherty said, “but he’s a strong kid.” She said Jimmy knows he’s fighting for his life.

Jim and Shana Williams recently received notice of an available heart for Jimmy, but further tests are needed to ensure complete compatibility.

Jim Williams said Jimmy understands the situation he is in.

“He has an amazing understanding of the procedures and medicine he is on and what each is for,” Williams wrote. “The transplant has him worried, but [he] is determined to not let it show.”