For William Joyner, this Christmas had a special meaning.
Late last year, Mr. Joyner, a GW procurement card support specialist, learned that his father, William H. Joyner Sr. was having kidney failure and required dialysis until he could find a transplant.
Mr. Joyner and his five siblings were all tested to see if they were a transplant candidate, but only Mr. Joyner turned out to be a perfect match.
“For the first time in my life, I was literally putting my life on the line,” Mr. Joyner, of Dumfries, Va., said about giving a kidney to his father. “But if I could do it all over again, I would.”
Eight months after his father went on dialysis, the transplant surgery was scheduled at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
An avid cyclist and runner, Mr. Joyner was an ideal candidate for the surgery and recovered quickly. He went back to work just three weeks after the transplant surgery.
Mr. Joyner says it was an easy decision to give his father one of his kidneys.
“I have a very close knit family, and I know my father would do the same for me if I needed one,” he said.
Every Sunday, about 50 of his family members go to church together in Norfolk, Va., where his uncle is a pastor and have lunch together afterward at his grandparents’ house.
Mr. Joyner first came to GW in 2002 as a temporary worker in the P-Card Department. Two years later, he became a full-time employee and moved to GW’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus in Ashburn, Va. As a P-card support specialist, Mr. Joyner conducts training sessions on how to use a university credit card. Throughout the university, there are about 1,100 cardholders.
“I love my job because I’m always helping someone learn something, and I always feel like I’m making a world of difference,” says Mr. Joyner. “I work with a great group of people, and GW is a great place to work.”
In 2009, Mr. Joyner was nominated for a GW Service Excellence Award.
“First and foremost, William is very customer service oriented. He always goes the extra mile to make sure that our P-card needs are taken care of,” says Casandra Fields, finance director in the Division of External Relations, who co-nominated Mr. Joyner for the award. “Kudos to a wonderful team player and an all around wonderful person to work with.”
When he’s not working, he enjoys cycling, running and traveling.
“I travel at least three times a year, and every year I like to go to a new place,” he said. “My favorite place so far has been Costa Rica.”
Mr. Joyner says he doesn’t feel any different now that he only has one kidney. He’s planning on training for the Marine Corps Marathon in October and traveling to the Dominican Republic later this year.
Meanwhile, his father has had a complete recovery too and is back to enjoying his retirement.
“This Christmas was very special because my father and I were both healthy and happy. You can hear the joy in his voice, and I think I became happier too because I made a difference in someone’s life,” said Mr. Joyner. “I would tell anyone to be a donor. It’s truly an awesome experience.”