GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – A former East Carolina high school basketball coach was forced to step down for health reasons but is hoping to return to coaching.
Last season, William Knight returned to coach DH Conley, but his body said differently.
“It's been tough at times, seriously. Especially tough last year when I had to step down as coach. I just didn't have the energy to go,” Knight said.
He was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2008 and after undergoing his first kidney transplant in 2012, he is on the waiting list for his next transplant.
“In October, we went back to surgery, even though I still had kidney function,” Knight said, and his doctors knew it was only a matter of time before he would have to undergo surgery again.
Knight said that although the road has been tough, coaching the girls' team has been a great way to pass the time.
“Even when I wasn't performing well, my dad believed in me as a leader. When we were down, he reminded me that I was the leader of this team and he rallied us all together,” said Charlaza Wilson, a former basketball player.
He is undergoing treatment again. “I'm now on PD dialysis.”
So far, all is well, but he says a transplant could be life-changing: “I'm just hoping and praying that I'll have a kidney transplant in the near future and be back on a court somewhere and coaching.”
Knight also said that his kidney disease has allowed him to meet some amazing people – in fact, when he first needed a kidney transplant, his JV team raised awareness about his disease and helped him receive the transplant just three months later.
Knight said one organ donor can save eight lives and encouraged people to become organ donors.
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