CyFair ISD coach returns after life-saving operation

CYPRESS, TX (KTRK) -- Coach John McWilliams is taking the field for the first time since his life-saving operation.

A fellow coach, Matt Beeler, donated part of his liver to McWilliams in March.

"You can't talk enough about Matt Beeler," McWilliams said, "I mean, he's at the top of my list for people that I really admire because he did something that he didn't have to do."

McWilliams was diagnosed with a rare liver disease last year. His life depended on receiving a new liver. Beeler volunteered to help.

"The whole goal behind it was if I can inspire or give hope or teach from what I did to other people, then I feel like I've done a great job," Beeler said.

Beeler donated more than 60 percent of his liver to McWilliams. It was a major surgery, but within a week, Beeler's liver had grown back to 92 percent of its original size.

"I caught staph in the incision when I was home, that wiped me out for about two and a half weeks," Beeler said, "Now it's about rebuilding strength and getting back to where I was before the surgery."

McWilliams did run into some complications after his surgery and had to go back and forth to the hospital in Rochester. Overall, the new liver is working. McWilliams will take drugs to keep his body from rejecting the liver for the rest of his life.

He's taking it easy on the field as he continues to recover, but no one is going easy on this team.

"We're gonna get after these kids," Beeler said, "Work them hard and make sure we're ready for the season."