When Emily Willett’s father Jonathan was diagnosed with fibrosis pulmonar idiopática, a terminal lung disease that was rapidly scarring his lungs, she didn’t fully understand the impact a lung transplant would have.
“To be completely honest, we had known that the disease that he had was terminal,” Emily shared. “For three years, I just expected he was going to pass away, and I wouldn’t have a dad here.”
But in the final hours of 2019, Jonathan’s life was saved thanks to the selfless decision of an organ donor. He received a double lung transplant on January 1, 2020.
“Without the selfless gift of organ donation, we wouldn’t have had hope for the future,” Emily said. “Every moment with my father since that day has been a celebration of life.”
Jonathan was first diagnosed in 2017, and at the time, he was told he had two to five years before he would need a transplant. Doctors said medication could help increase that time, but it ended up making him sicker. They decided to take him off the medication to increase his quality of life, and he began using oxygen.
As a father of four and a football coach, he didn’t want his kids to see how sick he had become.
“During the day I wouldn’t use any oxygen, I would just try to get by,” he recalled. “I would go home and be on at night.”
By December 2019, his health had deteriorated rapidly. He was in and out of the hospital for months. Doctors told him bluntly—without new lungs; he wouldn’t make it.
“On December 31, they said you really have 24 hours,” he shared.
Jonathan held onto his faith. The family shared what was happening on social media and people from across the country reached out. Even contacts he had made while on a mission trip in Africa reached out with prayers.
“There’s literally thousands of people praying for me,” he told his surgeon. “We will have lungs within 24 hours.”
Just over seven hours later, a match was found.
“The first year was rough,” Jonathan admitted. “But after that, everything has just been awesome.”
Today, Jonathan is back on the farm with his sons, mentoring the family’s sixth-generation legacy. He’s returned to the sidelines, too—coaching not just football, but life.
“This is my way of ministry,” he said. “I try to point them in the right direction and let them know that you’re going to run through things in life that are completely out of your control.”
For Emily, now a college student and dancer at Davenport University, her father is more than a survivor—he’s an inspiration. “He exemplifies so much strength,” she said. “He inspires me every single day. I try to take in every single moment with him and realize it’s a true blessing.”
Her family’s experience has shaped Emily into an advocate for organ donation. After receiving a scholarship she could split with a charitable organization, she chose Gift of Life Michigan. “We were able to see what organ donation was really about,” she said. “That really sparked my interest in knowing more about it and advocating more about it.”
When asked what she’d say to her father’s donor family, she shared “I would say I’m so grateful… however, I know that someone lost their life so my dad could still be here. I think I would make sure to acknowledge that as well.”
Father’s Day holds new meaning for the Willett family. For Emily, it’s a day to honor not just the man who raised her—but the second chance that lets him keep being her dad. For Jonathan, it’s about appreciating each day he’s been gifted.
“I’ve been able to see my sons step up and run the farm, to watch Emily dance in college, and see my youngest daughter show horses,” he said. “I’m just happy to see where my children are today.”
More than 2,600 patients in Michigan are waiting on a lifesaving organ transplant. The best way to save lives is by joining the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. Sign up to become an organ donor at golm.org/signup.
