Wild Bill overcoming fatal health challenges
He was coughing up blood for months, mouthfuls of it. His skin and eyes turned a grayish-yellow. He had no energy, and what energy he did have, he saved for the sports cameras as he belted Aggie cheers from the front row during every USU home basketball game. What many do not know about “Wild” Bill Sproat is that during his basketball-season fame, he was dying, and in July, he died for seven minutes.
Sproat said he realized he would eventually die from his illness, which was defined by doctors as “idiopathic cardiomyopathy,” a heart muscle disease. He did not seek any type of medical attention until his mother watched him cough up blood in a grocery store and forced him into the emergency room.
“I hate hypochondriacs,” Sproat said. “I hate hospitals. If I go, I’m admitting I’m sick, and I don’t want to admit that I’m sick. I had faith in my body. I’m a pretty strong guy. I can fight off just about anything.”
After arriving at the emergency room in Logan Regional Hospital with his mother, Amy Jensen, nurses ran a slew of tests, and while awaiting the results, a doctor emerged in the doorway with a wheelchair. By this time, everyone knew it was serious. From Logan he was flown to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah. Within 24 hours, Sproat was unconscious, and stayed that way for a week, Jensen said.
“There were so many IVs in me, my mom told me it looked like there were Christmas lights in my neck,” Sproat said. “The doctors told us if I had waited 12 more hours to go to the hospital, I would be gone right now.”
Doctors immediately performed procedures to drain the fluids from Sproat’s body. The process involved was unusual because Sproat could not lay down due to broken ribs caused by coughing violently, Sproat said. The doctors’ procedures proved successful when Sproat regained consciousness and awoke to family, friends and dozens of “get well soon” cards, Jensen said. He stayed in recovery for three additional weeks.
“They wouldn’t let visitors in to see me, because I’d see someone and get super stoked,” Sproat said. “My lungs would fill up with blood and I’d start dying again.”
Sproat said he first noticed he wasn’t feeling well in October 2009, but kept his pain a secret. While the virus in his body was causing his heart to inflame, Sproat was a human sponge, retaining water every time he consumed liquid, which led to drastic weight gain, he said.
By December, Sproat could no longer sleep lying down because his lungs were drowning in the liquid his body retained. Jake Frisby, a close friend of Sproat, said it was obvious Sproat was gaining an unhealthy amount of weight. However, USU fans and ESPN commentators became more and more thrilled every time Sproat’s 330-pound body made its appearance on television. Throughout basketball season, Sproat vomited every time he ate. His body was so full of water, he said he could push on his skin and it would indent, like silly putty.
“Basketball season was really difficult for me, and I started to do the Wild Bill stuff and I thought it was pretty funny, so I didn’t want to stop,” he said. “I would just save all my energy for the games.”
“When he first went into the hospital, I got a hold of his roommate, Naki, and the doctor basically said he was done,” Frisby said. “They weren’t going to be able to save him. For three days I didn’t even want to talk to people, until I figured out he had come to. You can’t lose friends like Bill.”
Though Sproat was smiling and joking soon after he regained consciousness, the most life-threatening event of his illness was yet to come. The combination of dehydration and a high dose of medication made Sproat’s heart stop completely, and right before the doctors were about to use a defibulator to revive him, his heart started pumping again.
Sproat said the nurses told him his first words after waking up were, “There better not be any BYU fans in here or I’m going to die.”
One of the nurses was a BYU alumnus, he said.
Sproat is now awaiting the doctor’s verdict on whether or not he will need a device to assist his heart, Jensen said. Sproat is following doctors’ orders by eating a low-sodium diet consisting mostly of vegetables, chicken and fish. Frisby said when he is with Sproat he is always conscious of what Sproat is eating. He said he is also aware of the amount of energy Sproat is exuding, and when he gets winded, Frisby reminds him to sit down and rest.
When doctor’s drained the fluids from Sproat’s body, he lost 65 pounds, and continues to lose weight through his strict diet, Sproat said.
Through all the tears and panic of Sproat’s condition, Jensen said she always had hope, and continues to as he endures the trials of lingering health issues.
“We felt everyone’s support and it helped us to be stronger,” Jensen said. “I think we were mostly blessed with peace, and Bill is a very positive person.”
There isn’t a whole lot to do when a patient is confined to a hospital room for a month, but Sproat found a way to make his time in bed productive, he said, crafting costumes that will create an uproar in the Spectrum this basketball season.
– Catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu