“Your mind is bright with ideas and statements, but you have no way to express yourself. “Just imagine not being able to communicate and not being able to move,” Williams said. Williams called the eye-tracking communication system a lifesaver for him. It generated a voice, the kind associated with Stephen Hawking, the physicist who lived with ALS for more than 50 years before dying in 2018.

Williams communicated through a computerized system that tracked his gaze over a keyboard. Photos: Extreme Makeover presents new house to Jeremy Williams in 2010Ģ020: Jeremy Williams and family still living with ALS, still inspiring others

Reporter Steve Hummer’s indepth update on Coach Jeremy Williams.Ģ009: Greenville coach a rock - and so’s his wifeĢ010: Greenville’s Williams named National High School Coach of the YearĢ014: ALS-stricken coach still gets message across An AJC Personal Journeys story from 2013. Here is a link to r ead and sign an online guestbook.įourth Down: ALS has ravaged the coach’s body. Jeremy Williams, the former Greenville High football coach who battled ALS for almost 15 years, died March 13, 2022. He soon would lose the ability to move or speak but remained upbeat and inspiring. Williams also was the subject of a 2012 documentary, “Season of a Lifetime.” Williams went on a respirator that year to work his lungs and to prolong his life. The family continues to live in that Pine Mountain home about 30 miles north of Columbus. In 2010, the family was featured in the TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Their home was renovated to accommodate Williams and Jacob, who was born with spina bifida. They have a daughter, Josie, and son, Jacob. He and Jennifer met in junior high and married during Jeremy’s senior year in college. Williams was a Columbus, Ga., native who starred in football at Kendrick High School, then played safety from 1990 to ‘93 at the University of Memphis. They don’t say, ‘Do you need help?’ They just do it.” You always have that line – you don’t want to step on somebody’s pride.

They are sensitive to his physical struggles. “This team is so sensitive – and they’re guys,” said Williams’ wife, Jennifer, in a 2009 interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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