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This Week:
Sports Issue 1
Volume 11
From the Oconee to the Apalachee
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Basketball
Wolverines win Page 4
Online
Photo Gallery
PACS-ELCA
theoconeeleader.com
Rain MATTHEW CALDWELL/Oconee Leader
Prince Avenue Christian senior Jordyn Smith scored her 1,000th career point in last Saturday’s loss to Eagle’s Landing Christian. Smith, who had 18 points in the game, became the second Lady Wolverine to score 1,000 career points. Haley Soles accomplished it in 2012. For the full story, see page 4. For more photos, see theoconeeleader.com.
Looking forward to a more ordinary year BY ROB PEECHER
The Oconee Leader
2015 goes out
A soggy mess Page 3
Schools
Exemplary
School Board Page 2
A year ago, Sara Lewis– diagnosed with End Stage Renal Failure – was looking for a kidney donor. The journey in front of her would happen faster than she or her family expected, and throughout the experience family and friends rallied around her. Now, as 2016 begins, Sara is looking forward to a new journey, more ordinary, perhaps, but certainly more welcome. Sara’s dad, Bobby Lewis, summed up easily the difference of starting 2016 versus starting 2015. “It’s very comforting to watch all this go away,” Bobby said. “It is a whole different feel to this year. Last year we were worry about surgery; this year we are worrying about graduation and what school she will go to. Surgery just seems like so long ago at this point.” Since she was in seventh grade, Sara knew she would one day need a new kidney. Her parents, Bobby and Kim Lewis of Bishop, hoped it was a process that could be put off until Sara was out of high school. But late in 2014, doctors told the family that they needed to find a donor and Sara was going to have to have a new kidney sooner rather than later. Their goal was to find a donor and have the surgery before Sara’s kidneys failed and she needed to go on dialysis. This time last year, Kim was testing to see if she could be a potential donor, but the Lewis family did not
ROB PEECHER/Oconee Leader
For Sara Lewis (left) and her mom Kim, 2016 promises to be an exciting year, but more ordinary than 2015 when Sara started the year knowing she would soon be getting a new kidney.
yet know whether Sara’s mom would be able to donate a kidney to her daughter. They wanted to schedule Sara’s surgery for June when school was out. It seemed the entire county was rallying to support Sara and her family. There were lots of fundraisers – many sponsored by her school and club soccer teams – to raise money for the Children’s Organ Transplant Association in Sara’s honor. Sara, meanwhile, felt fine through Christmas break and into the start of the New Year. She played for the Oconee County High
School girls’ soccer team in the beginning of the season. By late February or early March, Kim knew that she was a match and would donate the kidney, but their plans wait to have the surgery in June were abandoned when Sara crashed and had to go on dialysis for three weeks. “That was the biggest blessing,” Bobby said, “that she didn’t have to be on dialysis for very long.” Kim said they went to a pediatric dialysis center where they were told that Sara had the fastest turnaround time from starting dialysis to going to surgery that they’d ever
seen. “It was a real eye-opener to see how many kids are going through it,” Kim said. As she begins thisnew year, with the surgery behind her, Sara’s priorities are what one might expect for a senior in high school. She’s one of the captains on the school soccer team, and with the season starting soon, she’s thinking about the dynamics of the team and her last season of high school soccer. EvoShield is designing a piece of protective equipment that Sara can wear to protect her new kidney, and she acknowledges that her playtime will probably be limited. Nevertheless, she’s excited about returning to the game. “I’m really looking forward to getting back to playing and getting back in shape,” she said. She’s thinking about graduation and looking forward to the freedom that college offers. She’s trying to decide between Berry College and the University of Georgia – two schools she would like to attend in the fall and she’s been accepted to both. At the time of the surgery, with both Kim and Sara in the hospital and later recuperating at home, Bobby said he was able to rely on Sara’s siblings to pitch in and help. She has an older brother and sister, Austin and Courtney, as well as a ‘Sara Lewis’ Page 3
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