Page created by: Leigh Tillman

For those of you who knew Woody, you know he was an avid outdoorsman. He retired early, June 2009, for us to live in South Carolina where we have a small tree farm that is excellent for hunting. We immediately noticed a change in him. Our fear was a stroke. He went to the doctor in September 2009 and was originally misdiagnosed. Several years went by when he was diagnosed with Lewy Body, getting closer. He never showed signs of dementia. So I fought as his advocate and finally properly diagnosed him with Parkinson’s. Woody was also an avid runner - 5 miles every day. That was the first loss but we adapted. That became our life, adapting to every change. The greatest challenge began in September 2022 when he became wheelchair bound but, again, we adapted. Aspiration pneumonia is when the ability to adapt was no longer a solution. It took six weeks to lose him. This is a horrific disease and manifests differently in each fighter. This foundation has done so much researching treatments and cures. I’m hopeful one day soon, we will conquer this.