USA SITTING VOLLEYBALL TEAM PARA-OLYMPIAN GOLD MEDALIST
JILLIAN WILLIAMS TO SPEAK AT MEET THE COACH NIGHT, NOV. 6TH
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Jillian was beginning as a freshman college volleyball player at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin in the fall of 2015 when the pain in her left knee started. She self-diagnosed herself with a torn meniscus and decided she could wait out the 3 months of the season before she went to see a surgeon. After several different diagnoses and a biopsy 6 months later, she was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma, a pediatric bone cancer on February 29, 2016 – Leap Day. Jillian underwent 9 months of chemotherapy and an amputation called rotationplasty in 2016. On January 10th of 2017 Jillian finished her last chemo and embarked on her new LEAP. Being diagnosed the week of her 19th birthday she realized there was a gap that needed to be filling for AYA patients. In July of 2017 Jillian founded Live n Leap Foundation which grants the needs and dreams of adolescent and young adult patients with life threatening illnesses. Jillian and her service dog, Olive, reluctantly left Texas Lutheran in February of 2018 in order to pursue a roster position on the USA Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team. Since 2018 she has made the roster for each of the international competitions, 2018 World Championships which was held in The Netherlands- where the team took Silver behind Russia the 2019 Parapan Games in Lima, Peru, where the team won Gold for the USA, And most importantly and recently GOLD at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games! Jillian and her husband Kyle now live in Katy TX and are expecting their first baby. Jillian works as an Joint Replacement Rep for Stryker, specializing in Oncology. Her passion is getting to join groups like you all and share her story!
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