THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 27, 1996 TAG: 9605270070
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: 129 lines
By developing programs on bicycle safety, drug prevention and wilderness camps, Bill Morris helped Outer Banks children gain a new lease on life.
Now they have helped him regain the life he almost lost.
``I feel so grateful for the thoughts and prayers and everything the people in this community did for me,'' Morris, 41, said last week from the flower-filled living room of his Kill Devil Hills home. ``That's what pulled me through, I'm sure. All the prayers that went out really worked.''
Morris - a member of the Kill Devil Hills Board of Commissioners, deputy in the Dare County's Sheriff's Department, former Norfolk police officer, Methodist minister in Hampton Roads, and father of four young children - woke up on March 5, deaf in his left ear.
He underwent several tests to explain the sudden hearing loss. A month later, on Good Friday, he learned that he had a lemon-sized tumor at the base of his brain.
Norfolk doctors did not provide a positive prognosis. They had no idea what caused the tumor to grow between his brain's two lobes - no idea how long it had been there. If they removed it, they said, they might sever the main artery, causing Morris to be paralized, lose sight in his right eye or, at best, immobilize half his face.
None of those nightmares came true.
Morris sought a second opinion before going into surgery. He consulted neurosurgeons Laligam Sekhar and Donald Wright of George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. On May 2, the doctors removed 98 percent of the tumor during a three-hour operation - barely touching the arteries and not harming the brain.
Morris was back at home eight days later. The only thing he'smissing - besides the unwanted mass at the base of his brain - is the thick, brown mustache he's worn for 20 years. Other than that, he looks healthy and happy - and said last week he's feeling better every day.
``They went through the roof of my mouth to remove the tumor, so I didn't have any scarring. They said it just peeled off the artery so they didn't have to scrape at all. Everything that could've gone right did,'' Morris said, smiling beneath the stubble of a 'stache that's beginning to grow back. ``I don't usually have such good luck. I so much appreciated all the support everyone sent my way - that's what allowed everything to work out so well.''
A few years ago, Morris started North Carolina's only Therapeutic Wilderness Program through the Dare County Sheriff's Department - taking teenagers who were in trouble with the law on camping, canoeing and hiking expeditions to mountains most of them had never seen. He taught them to respect authorities - and themselves. And he showed them that adults could care about them and teach them at the same time.
Then, Morris began the DARE drug-prevention program for Outer Banks students. He lined up grants to hire resource officers from the sheriff's department for each school. And he developed bicycle safety programs throughout the county.
``He's an invaluable employee who's always been willing to go the extra mile to do what needs to be done. And he's got a very special way with children,'' Dare County Sheriff's Deputy Jasper Williams said. ``He's a very happy individual. And his positive attitude rubs off on others.''
Long-time Dare County Sheriff A.L. ``Bert'' Austin agreed. ``There's no question in any of our minds that he's the one who got the youth programs going in this county,'' the sheriff said of Morris. ``He's an unbelievable individual.''
In January, Morris started teaching Manteo Elementary School fifth-graders how to avoid illicit substances and stay safe on their two-wheelers.
Four months later, those students helped Morris get back on track.
By donating dimes, nickels and quarters of their lunch money, they raised more than $700 so his parents and wife could stay in a hotel close to the D.C. hospital where he underwent surgery.
The students colored get-well cards and wrote messages like: ``Get back so we can do bike safety.'' They called his house - and each other - instituting an evening prayer chain that spread around Roanoke Island.
``I just wanted to keep touching all the change and think about their little hands putting those coins in the envelopes they sent,'' Morris said. ``I hung all their cards on the wall of my room and looked at them each night.
``Even the doctors up there wanted to read all the kids' comments and marveled about how wonderful they were.''
Children weren't the only ones who supported Morris through his surgery.
Waitresses at the Jolly Roger restaurant, where he frequently eats, sent a check. Workers at the day care center attended by his 2-year-old daughter collected contributions. Lawyers, social service workers, teenagers from the wilderness program, elected officials, parents and police officers throughout the community mailed money. In three weeks, more than $7,000 flowed in.
Morris thought his insurance would cover all the medical costs he needed. The kids' contributions paid for his family's stay in the big city. The extra money, he said, will allow him to undergo Gamma Knife surgery in August to - hopefully - remove the remaining 2 percent of the non-cancerous tumor. Since it's an experimental procedure, the deputy's Blue Cross-Blue Shield policy won't cover that surgery. Without the community's collection, he said, he wouldn't be able to even attempt to get rid of the rest of the inexplicable growth on his brain.
``I don't even know some of the 500 people who sent money,'' Morris said in disbelief. ``I couldn't quite figure out what was happening. I was really hurt and upset when I found out I had the tumor. I could only focus the bad things that could go wrong. I was disappointed and scared I wouldn't be able to do things with my family any more.
``Instead, all these good things started going right. My kids and my family got to see how the people in Dare County go out of their way to care and give to others,'' said Morris, whose wife, Lynn, is the Kitty Hawk town clerk. ``You want to teach your kids life qualities like looking after one another and caring, doing unto others and all. My little ones got a first-hand lesson in that this spring. People really do for other people down here.''
A graduate of Granby High in Norfolk, Morris moved to the Outer Banks 10 years ago.
``I needed a change,'' he said. ``I had a bag of clothes in my car, a half-tank of gas, $25 and a half a bottle of Jim Beam. I didn't know what I was doing, just living day to day. Then, I got a job with the Kill Devil Hills Police Department and began feeling a part of this area.''
When he returned from the hospital two weeks ago, Morris knew he had found his permanent residence. Co-workers from the Sheriff's Department had cleaned his carpets, changed the bed linens and scrubbed his whole house. A neighbor across the street had finished building an 8-by-8 wooden shed in Morris' back yard that the police officer had started framing before he got sick - complete with shingled roof and a ramp for his lawnmower.
``It was amazing for me and my family to realize the type of people we're surrounded by,'' Morris said, sifting through a foot-high stack of cards he keeps near the fading floral arrangements on his mantle.
``It's unique - all the caring and support I got here - and pretty darn neat.
``People on the Outer Banks have a quality about caring for others that you don't find elsewhere.
``This whole experience has really nailed me down to this place. This is where I want to be. This is where I want my family to grow up.
``It's great to be home.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Bill Morris recuperates from surgery with a slew of get-well wishes
from neighbors and from children who have benefited from his
knowledge of drug and bicycle safety through the Sheriff's
Department. by CNB