USD Magazine Summer 2008

[ c ome b a c k k i d ]

Hi s own hea l th on the mend, Joshua Hami l ton turns h i s at tent i on to he l p i ng other s . POSITIVE THINKER THE

b y K e l l y K n u f k e n

Joshua Hamilton was supposed to die. The odds of beating the deadly brain virus he contracted were put at 20 percent. His chances of coming out of it essentially fine, as he has, were estimated at only 2 percent. But Hamilton is quite an overachiever, and that apparently extends to his health. To back up a bit, the first indication he had that something was really wrong was in the summer of 2004. That’s when he collapsed as he tried to get up from his study desk. An ambulance trip to the emergency room was followed by weeks in the hospital, paralysis, Parkinson’s-like shakes and a couple years of recovery. “I lost control of my hands. I lost control of my fingers, my facial expressions and my voice. I could only talk in a whisper,” Hamilton remembers. “It was intense.” It was six months before doctors figured out he hadWest Nile virus, likely contracted in Utah, where he’d been preparing for a mission abroad with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It took a year and a half of rehabilitation and therapy before he started to come out of the worst of it. The virus sapped his energy for all but a few hours a day. But Hamilton, back in San Diego during his recovery, put those hours to good use by speaking about his illness at meetings and conferences. “I spent a lot of time sharing my story and listening to other people’s stories,” he says. That likely provided good training for his current volunteer work at Rady Children’s Hospital, which he began a few years ago when his illness abated. He goes to the Hematology/Oncology Care Center every Wednes- day and plays games, reads or just sits and watches a movie with the kids. “A lot of them don’t have hair, they may have staples in their head or inci- sions. Some children are actually there for years. It’s tough,” he says, his voice quieting. “But you know, you kind of get over that, and you get the opportunity to see them have fun.” It was the support and love he felt when he was fightingWest Nile virus that spurred Hamilton to make a connection with these children who are fighting for their own lives. “When I was sick, so many people did so many great things for me,” he remembers. “I just want to do something of that nature (for others). It was amazing how much support I got. I love doing it, and those kids are just so wonderful, and they really fill my life with something positive.” With no real cure for his own illness, his doctors’ strategy of treating his symptoms with L-dopa began paying off a year and a half after Hamilton fell ill. Everyone noticed the changes when the medication finally reached the right level. “My posture was better, I started to talk a little louder. One day I was

able to just sit down at the piano and not have a problem at all. My father looked at me, and he just said, ‘You don’t look like the same per- son anymore.’ After that point, I just got better and better exponentially.” When he finally started to come out of this deadly illness, he says, “I was very blessed and very, very lucky.” Now Hamilton’s life has returned to normal. That’s not a given for the West Nile form of encephalitis — a brain hemorrhaging disease that usually causes irreparable brain damage. The only lingering problems he has are severe headaches. There have been unexpected positives.When he needed to get control of the tremors in his hands, he turned to the piano. And learned to play it by ear. And his near-death experience helped him learn to take the focus off himself. He says the toughest part of his illness was seeing the toll it took on his friends and family. “It really helped me to take the whole situation ... and focus on oth- ers and keeping their spirits up and trying to be in a good mood and learning not to be so focused on myself, and to appreciate others and what I could do for others.” An Eagle Scout, Hamilton now juggles serving as Alcalá Club presi- dent with his volunteer work and leadership of several fraternity com- mittees, among other commitments. “I guess I’ve always been busy,” he says. “My parents filled my life with a lot of things that were worthwhile, and I’ve had a very structured life — gotta go to school, lessons, practice. It’s been a full life and a lot of opportunities, that’s for sure.” What drives him to succeed? Well, as the oldest of eight, he’s clearly aware of his role as firstborn. “It’s been a challenge,” he says. “When you have so many eyes on you, it’s a lot of pressure to not screw up, you know?” When it came time for college, Hamilton chose USD over Harvard — in part because of the accommodation of his mission schedule. That wasn’t an easy decision for someone who had wanted to be a lawyer since he was 5. But he’s learned a lot about life in the years since he started at USD — including a leave that was to be for his mission, but turned into recov- ery time. He’s decided a law career may not be the best fit. A senior in the fall, he’ll later go to graduate school and likely pursue an MBA. “I want to do something that’s worth something — something of value that I can hold myself to the highest standards. I want to give of myself whatever I have to give to improve whatever situation or organi- zation I’m in — something to make a real difference.” If providing an up-close-and-personal look at grace under pressure counts, Hamilton’s already there.

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