By Kristine Brite
AVON — He looks old for his 45 years. He says some days his body feels at least 60 years old, especially on the days when he undergoes dialysis.
But when Jim Byers talks about how Avon High School’s faculty and students have pulled together to help his family, his face lights up with a huge smile, making him look 10 years younger.
“It amazes me to think that many people care and think about me,” Byers said. “It’s mind numbing. Especially the students. I’m just a janitor most of them don’t know.”
To say Byers, in his 10th year as custodian at AHS, suffers from bad luck might be an understatement. About a month ago, he tore the ligaments in both legs, requiring casts on both, because his muscles and bones have been weakened by the dialysis he undergoes for kidney failure.
After hearing his story, Debbie Goodpaster, who works in the athletics office at the school, raised more than $3,000 from AHS staff. Student support soon followed with an official Jim Byers Day where students were asked to donate money and wear Byers’ favorite colors — blue and green.
“You keep waiting for someone to catch that break, and he never catches that break,” Goodpaster said.
His kidney problems started more than 20 years ago and have required dialysis the last two. About two years ago, he had a heart attack, and just about a year ago he had to have his gallbladder removed.
Byers remembers when his kidneys really became a serious problem. After a routine visit to the doctor’s office in which some blood work was taken, he saw firefighters and police officers milling about. When he asked who they were looking for, he said they replied, “Jim Byers.”
He later found out that upon receiving the lab results, the doctor had called emergency personal to rush him to the hospital.
“If he hadn’t called then, I could have laid down and died that night,” he said.
Through all of this, he’s kept working. He said he had to in order to support his family — step-daughter Kimmie, 16; son Matthew, 13, and daughter, Angela, 11. He and his wife Deanna have been married for 12 years.
“Fortunately for us, our children are not hard to please,” he said. “They’re willing to accept something they need as something they want. When they get new clothes, that’s an excitement.”
His health problems gobbled up his sick and vacation time. Currently, the family relies on Deanna Byers’ income from her full-time position at McDonald’s in Brownsburg. He said that brings in between $300 and $400 every two weeks.
“She picks up every hour she can because that’s our income,” Byers said. “She works too much. She’s got to work and then take care of things, especially me.”
Byers said he needed a steady stream of income so even though he underwent dialysis three times a week for four hours at a time, he still worked full-time, going in to work on dialysis days at 1 a.m. and working until 10 a.m.
“Those were days I couldn’t wait to get in the dialysis chair and go to sleep,” he said.
Westlake Community Church of God stepped up to cover health insurance so medical costs at least aren’t a worry. Mike Cottrell, pastor at the church, said he heard the story from a parishioner and felt compelled to act.
Cottrell hopes to do more. He said he would love to do an “Extreme Makeover” of the Avon mobile home where the Byers family resides, by giving them a new mobile home.
The family trailer was built in the 1960s and Byers said it requires frequent repair, something he is no longer able to do.
He had planned on moving the family into an apartment or another home before falling sick again. He just couldn’t raise the money to demolish or get rid of the current trailer. He said his landlord told them that if they left, the trailer needed to go too, because of its condition.
He said he even looked into finding volunteers to help bring down the trailer in pieces.
“I just want to make sure it can be done quickly,” he said. “I don’t want to leave a mess for the landlord.”
Byers remains eager to return to work, but his doctor says he’ll be out for at least six months. He said he “loves his job,” and that he never feels disrespected by the students who treat him “probably better than they treat their parents.”
“I can’t wait to get back,” he said. “I told them I could put a dust mop on my chair and clean the hallways.”
For now, he shares the secret to remaining positive.
“Whenever I get down about what we’ve got, I remember there are people who’ve got less,” he said.
