Written by Nathan Lindquist, Wheaton Sports Information
Wheaton, Ill. -
Jordan Williams just didn't feel right.
It was early November 2010. Williams was halfway through his senior year at Wheaton College. He was captain of the tennis team, and with the spring season only a few months away, this was it – his one last taste of competition.
That was when the fever started. Several days later, red spots broke out on his body. Jordan toughed it out and went about his normal class routine. But his condition could no longer be ignored.
With his roommate in tow, Williams headed to the hospital. Blood tests were taken. Half an hour ticked by. When the doctor emerged, he brought devastating news – Jordan's white blood cell count was out of control. Williams had taken physiology and anatomy classes. He knew what that meant: cancer.
Now, 15 months later,
Jordan Williams is back on the tennis court to play out his senior season for the Thunder. It was a long, hard journey to return to this point. But with his cancer in remission, Williams gets the chance to finish his collegiate tennis career strong.
With the diagnosis initially unclear, Jordan's doctor recommended additional blood labs and a spinal tap. The tests came back positive for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). AML is a blood cancer that originates inside bone marrow and rapidly replaces healthy blood cells with abnormal ones.
“I was really just dumbfounded because two weeks prior, I was playing at the ITA Tournament, feeling fine,” Williams said. “I played really well and almost pulled a big upset. I was going through classes like a normal kid... It's a shocking feeling that you can't shake off for awhile. It was like someone just hit you in the face with a two-by-four.”
Williams was transferred to the University of Chicago, which boasts a world-class leukemia treatment program. Social media proved to be the quickest way to disseminate the news. “When I got there, my dad brought me my computer, I hopped on Facebook and I just said, 'Hey guys, I was diagnosed with leukemia. Your prayers would be really appreciated while I'm going through this situation.'”
The word spread almost instantaneously through Wheaton's campus. Head men's tennis coach
Brad Pihl heard the diagnosis via a phone call from Jordan's father. By the time Pihl held a team meeting the next day, most of the guys already knew.
“Primarily, we were extremely concerned for Jordan,” Pihl said. “Tennis is not very important when you consider life and death issues. Our guys were thinking, 'Wow, one of my good friends has cancer at age 21.' It's almost disbelief. It's also so strange as far as Jordan goes. He's just a big, strong, seemingly healthy guy.”
About two weeks later, the Wheaton men's tennis team traveled as a group to visit Williams in the hospital. Early on in the conversation, Jordan told Pihl of his intentions to mount a comeback. “'Coach, I'm going to be back next year, we're gonna make it through this and we're gonna have a great team,'” Williams recalled. “I was really out of it when I told him that but I remember telling him that.”
Pihl was not surprised by his senior captain's declaration. It's part of his nature, both on and off the court.
“Jordan is an extremely passionate person,” Pihl said. “I knew that if anyone had the ability to overcome this type of thing, it would be Jordan. On the tennis court, he is a fighter. Anyone who has watched Jordan play tennis knows that is his number one characteristic. He never gives up on a point. He keeps fighting to the very end. His attitude served him well as he was fighting this disease.”
Due to the aggressiveness of the leukemia, Williams received a high dose of chemotherapy and was in the hospital for 44-straight days. But even in those dark times, he drew encouragement from a wealth of supporters.
“It was really cool because a lot of the Wheaton campus came around me,” Williams said. “People would randomly shoot me a text message. I was in Dr. [Gary] Burge's Christian Thought class at the time and every morning, they would pray for me. I got tons of love from them. Everyone in the class wrote me a letter of encouragement. So every day, I was able to wake up and read a new letter, which was really, really cool... I even got a card from the whole Augustana College [men's tennis] team and some of the parents, just wishing me well.”
The arduous demands of cancer treatment took their toll. Williams was on a litany of medications for the pain, and he lost a lot of muscle due to inactivity. Part of the recovery involved walking up and down the hospital hallways, lap after lap. Jordan's goal was to walk at least a half mile each day. The process took a lot out of him, which hurt his hopes of playing tennis again.
Despite the stress on his body, Williams kept his mind active. He finished all but one of his fall-semester classes, took his senior seminar class in the spring and earned A's in all his courses. By that time, Jordan had withdrawn from campus housing and was living with his parents in Naperville. His daily regimen included a morning trip to the hospital for blood infusions. He would stay there for one week every month as part of additional rounds of chemotherapy.
Williams felt that losing the ability to play tennis had left a void in his life. He missed the team dynamic and the pursuit of a common goal. “One of the things I really missed was the tennis team,” Jordan said. “I followed all the updates on the Wheaton athletics website; I talked to the guys constantly to see how things were going. And I told myself that if I made it through this, I would have a reason to get into the best shape of my life. I'd have a reason to get back on the tennis court and really give it one more go.”
Wheaton's tennis squad missed Williams' presence as well. A lot of new faces populated a roster devoid of seniors. However, the team's visits to Jordan's hospital room and home served to bond them closer together.
“I think it forced us to grow spiritually together as a team,” Pihl said. “We prayed together a lot for Jordan. We talked a lot about what's important in life. I think that helped strengthen our team. Going through that was a memorable part of the season. It made us step back and look at our priorities and just be grateful for what we've been given.”
A bone marrow biopsy was an all-too-common procedure that Williams endured. Almost seven months after the leukemia was found, the biopsy came up clean. The all clear was given – Williams was in remission.
Only six credits separated Jordan from graduation by the time summer rolled around, but he had unfinished business. He was coming back to Wheaton to rejoin his teammates on the tennis court. Williams hit the gym hard, utilizing the P90X workout program to get back into game shape.
The moment of truth came on February 4 – the first match of the year. Wheaton hosted Cornell College, and Williams was back in the lineup at No. 1 doubles and No. 3 singles. It was just the kind of start he had been envisioning for over a year. Jordan teamed up with
Josh Ward to take the doubles match 8-4, and he then won his singles match in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. Four days later, Williams was named CCIW Player of the Week for his efforts.
“I'm really optimistic about this year,” Williams said. “My doubles partner and I played really well together. I think we have a really strong team this year and have a chance at winning conference.”
The head coach is thrilled to have him back. Watching Jordan's first win of the year was a special moment for Pihl, and he's hoping for many more like it. A big serve-and-volley game is Williams' specialty. It makes him a very effective doubles player.
“He's a big asset. He really was the missing piece we didn't have last year,” Pihl said. “Jordan is a very fiery competitor and you need that a little bit. Jordan is a team leader on the court in the sense of vocally encouraging others when they're playing... We missed his size and his presence last year, especially in doubles. In close matches, those doubles points are huge for us. I'm looking forward to see what he can bring to the team.”
The journey is not over yet. Every three months for the next two years, Williams has to get a bone marrow biopsy to check for any recurrence of the cancer. After that, he'll have to get a biopsy every six months for the rest of his life.
Tennis will stay in full swing up through May. Then graduation and medical school are beckoning. Jordan's dream job is to become an orthopedic surgeon for a sports team. He would be joining the medical field along with his older brothers Joe, an emergency room doctor for the U.S. Army, and Josh, a fourth-year medical student.
The unflagging support of doctors, nurses and friends helped Jordan drive through treatment. Ultimately, Williams credits his Christian faith and close-knit family for his recovery.
“I don't think I would have made it through without my relationship with God,” Williams said. “I relied so much on my faith and so much on my family that if I didn't have either one of those, there is no way I would have made it. God has been there for me the whole way. I feel like I'm a much better person for having gone through this. With all the lessons I learned, I saw what's truly important in life.”
