Willis/Harrington family
Mark Willis enjoys a day at the beach with granddaughter Bryn in 2020.

Willis/Harrington family Mark Willis enjoys a day at the beach with granddaughter Bryn in 2020.

Former Sequim schools administrator recovering after strokes

SEQUIM — The family of a fixture of Sequim schools is raising funds to help defray costs for an unexpected and nearly fatal series of strokes.

Mark Willis, former Sequim Middle School principal and Sequim High School assistant principal, was airlifted to Swedish Medical Center’s Cherry Hill campus on Jan. 9, one day after entering Olympic Medical Center’s emergency room in Port Angeles.

Suffering from what family members said was a painful migraine and minor stroke-like symptoms, Willis was initially suffering from a carotid dissection, a tear in his artery within his neck.

“We were told he would be put on blood thinners and hopefully improve and the dissection would heal,” family members noted on a GoFundMe page this week.

On Jan. 9, Willis’ symptoms got worse, including confusion and an inability to speak. A second MRI found he had 20-plus small strokes that Saturday and Sunday, his daughter Sarah Harrington said.

He was quickly airlifted to Swedish Cherry Hill and underwent a procedure to put a stent in his artery.

“Sunday was a day of nightmares,” Harrington said. “Dad went from being able to talk to us to not being able to recall his name.”

Harrington noted that doctors found a large clot within his artery where there was narrowing. That narrowing was holding back the large clot but causing many little strokes as pieces of the clot passed through.

The surgeon at Swedish said the situation was life-and-death, Harrington said; physicians were able to remove the clot, and Willis had two stents placed in his neck.

The prognosis is good even as he is still at risk as his body heals, family members said.

On Thursday, Harrington and Willis’ wife, Polly Caughron-Willis, said Willis had improved significantly, to the point that he’s expected to be released and come home this week.

“Today (Thursday) he’s much, much better,” Caughron-Willis said.” (But) hasn’t had food yet.

“He said, ‘My neck hurts’; he really doesn’t remember he had surgery there.”

Harrington has a GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/f/support-mark-williss-emergency-medical-costs to help defray costs of the airlift, stays in Seattle and what’s expected to be significant costs with follow-up tests and treatments in the coming days, weeks and months.

She’s also collecting stories, words of encouragement and letters for a “giant get-well card” for her father; to send a note, email swil.harrington@gmail.com.

Overcoming cancer

Willis was a longtime administrator at Sequim schools before he retired in 2020. Caughron-Willis worked for Sequim schools at the district office until 2017.

Willis battled prostate cancer; he had his prostate and some lymph nodes removed in 2015, family members said.

Then, when cancer returned in 2018, he underwent six weeks of radiation therapy followed by a surgery to remove some of his colon and lymph nodes.

“The radiation therapy and surgeries at that time were all very difficult but ultimately successful in beating cancer,” Harrington wrote on the GoFundMe page.

Caughron-Willis said her husband can expect plenty of physical, occupational and speech therapy over the next several weeks — particularly the speech therapy — but a good sign was that doctors, who had told the family they expected to have Willis on their campus for several weeks, were releasing him within days.

Caughron-Willis said that, because of COVID-prevention measures, she and other family members were unable to be with Willis.

That separation was particularly harrowing after Willis developed some bleeding issues in the afternoon on Tuesday. The bleeding and cramping eventually abated; Harrington said physicians later found it was linked to radiation therapy he received three years ago for his prostate cancer. The inflammation won’t require surgery, she said.

“They removed him from the ICU (intensive care unit) because they needed the bed,” Caughron-Willis said. “He’s had excellent care there … (but it’s an) eerie scene in the hospital; they don’t want people in there. You can’t be your loved one’s advocate.

“This was a horrifying experience.”

Harrington said the cost of getting her father where he needed to be — in addition to MRIs, hospital stays, therapy and more — is expensive, hence the GoFundMe. As of Monday, the effort had raised more than $19,600 of the $25,000 goal.

“No one likes to ask for help, but at this time, this is what people could do,” she said.

Caughron-Willis said her husband particularly enjoys one part of his retirement: spending time with grandchildren, Harrington’s Bryn and Hudson.

“He spends every day with them,” Caughron-Willis said.

“This is going to get better, and Mark is going to get better.”

________

Michael Dashiell is the editor of the Sequim Gazette of the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which also is composed of other Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum. Reach him at editor@sequimgazette.com.

Mark Willis, pictured here in 2020 with Polly and granddaughters Hudson, left, and Bryn, is recuperating from a series of strokes suffered earlier this month. Photo courtesy of the Willis/Harrington family

Mark Willis, pictured here in 2020 with Polly and granddaughters Hudson, left, and Bryn, is recuperating from a series of strokes suffered earlier this month. Photo courtesy of the Willis/Harrington family

More in News

Port Angeles' Tanner Flores (56) and Kason Albaugh (12) celebrate a big play in the Rainshadow Rumble in Sequim on Friday night. The Roughriders won the game 37-10, avenging last year's last-second win by the Wolves. For a game story, go to Page A6. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Rainshadow revenge for Port Angeles

Port Angeles’ Tanner Flores (56) and Kason Albaugh (12) celebrate a big… Continue reading

Wildfires calmed, but not out

Delabarre Fire swells to more than 4K acres

Sequim City Council agrees to new sewer rate with Sequim Bay Lodge

Out-of-city ratepayer will have five years and a gradual hike

Actress Lindsey Wagner, right, with Port Townsend Film Festival Program Director Christy Spencer, stands on stage at Key City Public Theater in Port Townsend on Saturday to introduce the film, “When Jack Came Back,” one of the entrants in the 2023 film festival that stars Wagner as a mother in the grip of Alzheimer’s Disease. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Film introduction

Actress Lindsey Wagner, right, with Port Townsend Film Festival Program Director Christy… Continue reading

The MOD Pizza planned next to the recently opened Starbucks at South Del Guzzi Drive and East Front Street won’t be open until 2024, according to the property owner. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
MOD Pizza aims for 2024 opening

Visitors to the new Starbucks store at South Del… Continue reading

Tourism Master Plan town halls set this week

The Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau will conduct a series of town halls… Continue reading

White House tells federal agencies prepare for shutdown

Deadlock in Congress could mean funding runs out Oct. 1

KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
A vehicle makes its way across the Elwha River Bridge west of Port Angeles on Friday morning as a plume of wildfire smoke filters down the river valley. The smoke, which originated from seven named wildfires near the center of Olympic National Park, settled through the Elwha drainage to lower elevations, creating hazardous air in lower portions of the valley and unhealthy conditions in surrounding areas.
Smoke pools into Port Angeles area; begins to disperse late Friday

Rain expected to help clear air this weekend

PA council hopeful’s STR in an unpermitted zone

Property no longer rented short-term, candidate says

Most Read