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Woman becomes ill in basic training but manages to graduate in wheelchair. She dies weeks later
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Aug 18, 2007
Before she entered the Air Force, Paige Renee Villers made one of the most difficult decisions and greatest sacrifices a woman can make.
It was June 2006. She was 18 years old, nearly nine months' pregnant and graduating from Norton High School.
''She made the toughest decision in her life, which was to give that baby (a son) a good home to a loving couple,'' Michelle Villers said of her daughter, who was buried this week with full military honors at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman.
After graduation, Paige Villers made another big decision: to join the Air Force. She entered basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas in mid-March.
When she spoke to her parents, Don and Michelle Villers of Norton, at the start of basic training, she told them how afraid she was. When she spoke to them later, she told them how much she loved what she was doing.
But she became ill with a cold and sinus problems, and after receiving medical treatment, she was diagnosed with mononucleosis in her final week of basic training in late April.
Ordered to rest during this time, she offered encouragement to the newer Air Force recruits, urging them to work hard during their training.
On May 16, she was having breathing problems and was taken to the base's Wilford Hall Medical Center, where doctors determined she had viral pneumonia and that her situation was critical.
Her mother Michelle, who works as a paralegal, and aunt, Christina Henry, flew down the next day.
Airman in coma
When they arrived, Villers was in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator. Her kidneys had failed and she was placed on dialysis.
She remained in a coma for 36 days and underwent a wide range of medical procedures, including one to oxygenate the blood when the lungs aren't functioning.
When she came out of the coma, Villers asked her mother: ''Am I still in the Air Force?''
''Yes, baby, you are,'' Michelle Villers answered.
''Am I going to stay in the Air Force?'' she asked, explaining that she didn't want to leave the Air Force.
She stayed on a ventilator but began occupational rehabilitation to rebuild her muscles, which had weakened while she was in the coma.
It was decided that she would go through her much-desired graduation from basic training at the Air Force base. Nurses and other medical personnel helped prepare her for the day.
She had to build up enough strength to even sit in a wheelchair, her mother said.
Michelle Villers recalled how proud her daughter was of serving her country.
''I am so proud of that (dress) uniform,'' she had told her mother one day before she became ill. ''I can't wait until graduation.''
That day came on July 20, when U.S. Air Force Airman Paige Renee Villers graduated from basic training, receiving numerous awards.
After the graduation ceremony, she went back to the hospital.
Two days later, while reading the comics in the Sunday paper, she asked her mother whether she could have some McDonald's Chicken McNuggets.
Her mother went out to get the food, but when she returned, Villers was asleep. When she woke up, she complained that she had a headache.
Within an hour, she began to have seizures.
Tests determined that she had acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a neurological illness. She never regained consciousness and developed pneumonia once more.
She died on Aug. 7.
Brigadier Gen. Darrell Jones, 37th Training Wing commander, called Villers' death a ''very tragic loss. . . . Our hearts go out to the family, friends and colleagues of Airman Villers.''
A memorial service was held at Lackland Air Force Base, followed by the funeral and burial services in Wadsworth and in Rittman this week.
A few days later, Villers' parents sat in the kitchen of the Coventry Township home of Michelle's sister, Christina Henry. They talked about the loved one they had lost.
''When Paige was pregnant,'' Henry said, ''she wanted someday to be able to reach young girls in the same situation, to let them know they had choices in life.''
Henry said her niece was opposed to abortion and believed that life is sacred.
Making the decision to find parents for her child ''broke her heart,'' Michelle Villers said.
Family cherishes medals
Her family cherishes the medals and awards that Villers earned while in the Air Force, the special coins given by top officers of the Air Force, and the stories they have heard about their daughter and how she inspired others.
''We told Paige that she was our hero,'' her mother said. ''She was so brave and courageous because of what she did with the baby and the military.''
She said her daughter ''was always for the underdog. She always wanted to do the right thing.''
Donations can be made to the Paige Villers Memorial Fund at any U.S. bank. Contributions will be used for the education of her brother, Corey Villers, 14.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
Before she entered the Air Force, Paige Renee Villers made one of the most difficult decisions and greatest sacrifices a woman can make.
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