CLEVELAND — They say life isn’t measured by the number of breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away. And as Willis Cuevas, 68, found out, one without the other is no life at all.
The little things
Cuevas loves his Harley-Davidson. It is a 2008 Road King Classic, and he loves riding with his Harley “queen.”
“My wife loves being on the back of the bike with me,” he said.
Willis will spend hours cleaning and shining his bike.
“I love washing it,” he said. “I don’t like a dirty bike!”
His favorite part?
“That it's a Harley and I get to ride it,” he said with a big smile.
It is a personal and professional passion.
“Believe it or not I always wanted to be a motorcycle cop when I was a little kid,” said Willis.
In his 33 years of service with the Cleveland Police Department, some career highlights include delivering a baby, delivering as the lead escort vehicle with the U.S. Secret Service during a vice-presidential visit, and making history with CPD.
“Got an award of appreciation,” he said as the first Hispanic male assigned to the motorcycle unit.
“Once you're a police officer you're always a police officer,” said Willis. “That was my second family. Still is my second family.”
Willis retired in 2014.
“Me and my wife did a lot of road trips together on this bike with the guys from work, and I miss those,” said Willis while looking at his Harley-Davidson.
He had hoped to ride off into the sunset.
“And it hurt,” he said. “It hurt that I couldn’t ride it.”
However, a health crisis diverted his life plans.
“Three years gone without getting on it,” said Willis.
Major changes
December 2021: Willis’ life changed forever.
“I woke up and I couldn’t breathe,” he recalled.
A hospital visit confirmed he had COVID-19. It was affecting his lungs.
He stayed two weeks in the hospital before being sent home with oxygen. The supplemental oxygen lasted for days. Then, for weeks. Then- months.
Willis never got off the oxygen he had been sent home with. After one year, Willis was on the highest flow of supplemental oxygen at home and still winded by walking from one room to another.
“I didn’t want to live like that,” he said.
He said he couldn’t do what he was used to doing or loved doing.
“It was hard for me, it was hard for my family, but the Lord had something for me,” said Willis.
That faith would be tested when a second opinion found Willis had pulmonary fibrosis.
“That’s scarring of the lungs and that there’s no cure for it,” he said.
Never a smoker, doctors told Willis the fatal disease was likely caused by a variety of factors, including COVID and environmental exposures from his time as a motorcycle officer.
“The only cure is I would have to have a double lung transplant,” he said.
Willis said that news hit hard.
“I kept praying and saying, ‘Lord, we need a miracle,’” said his wife, Madelene.
Willis got on the organ transplant waiting list in the summer of 2023 and soon received a phone call.
“Saying, ‘Mr. Cuevas we found a set of lungs for you, and you need to come in tomorrow morning,’” said Willis.
The family gathered by his bedside at Cleveland Clinic, ready to roll.
But the excitement was short-lived. The lungs were ultimately deemed unsuitable.
“When it didn’t happen, I was like, ‘Okay, Lord, I know you got it, you’ve got us. It’s gonna happen,’” said Madelene.
While disappointing, dry runs are considered a common and important step to ensure a successful transplant. While at least one dry run is expected, Willis holds the record at Cleveland Clinic with seven dry runs before getting his new lungs in April of 2024.
Eighth time's the charm!
Willis was so ill that he almost didn’t survive the eight-hour operation.
Dr. Haytham Elgharably, Cleveland Clinic surgeon, described how Willis coded in the operating room.
“We had to do chest compressions and give medications to resuscitate the heart, said Elgharably. “We got him back; it took us a few minutes.”
Cleveland Clinic is a leader in double-lung transplants, performing 126 in 2024.
“It’s one of those cases you never forget and... it’s satisfying that you helped that patient,” said Elgharably.
Elgharably said they use something called ex vivo lung perfusion. It is a machine that ventilates the donor lungs and pumps blood through them for several hours prior to a potential transplant. He said that machine perfusion has helped them better assess donor lungs and use more organs they otherwise wouldn’t have, and in turn, help more patients, especially sicker patients like Willis.
Willis spent two months recovering in the hospital. His family by his side every step of the way.
“We just kept encouraging him and telling him to not give up,” said his wife and son.
Willis’ second family was also there for him.
His buddies from the Cleveland Police Department’s motorcycle unit surprised him as he left the hospital to head home. They lined up in the halls.
“I did not know about it,” said Willis. “As soon as they opened the door to my room and all that the guys were there, and it got to me,” said Willis, getting emotional. “It got to me.”
Once an officer, always an officer. They escorted Willis all the way home.
“That was exciting,” he said. “That was awesome!”
It would be that relentless love, support, and encouragement from his friends, family, and faith that carried Willis to where he is today.
“He had his best lung function numbers to date,” said Dr. Olufemi Akindipe, Willis’s pulmonologist at Cleveland Clinic. “He’s doing quite well considering how sick he was and what he went through.”
It has now been one year post-transplant and Willis is finally feeling strong enough to get back to all the things he loves the most in life.
“We just want to enjoy time with him which is a great feeling,” said his son, Willis Cuevas the second.
Willis is back to holding his grandbabies. He’s back at the ballfield watching his grandson play.
“Seeing him here all the time now is like motivating to me,” said Caleb Melendez, grandson. “It makes me want to play harder each game!”
Catching up on life
“I missed a lot,” Willis said.
Back in the stands, back in the game, and finally, Willis is back in the saddle!
“This is it,” he said, getting on his Harley. “After three years of not riding my bike, I get to ride it now and it feels awesome!”
The feeling of freedom, a familiar joy once again rumbling through him, but different. Willis is now fueled by a perspective gained only by almost losing it all.
While life is shifting back into gear for Willis and his family, he said he will never be the same.
“I’m alive,” he said. “And forever grateful.”
Original body rebuilt engine.
Willis said with every breath, he’s grateful for the gift that gave him a second chance and is focused now on what matters most.
“The little things like spending time with your family,” he said.
This fall, Willis and his wife, Madelene, will celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.
“A miracle,” said Madelene. “That’s what I see, a miracle.”
And they’re holding on to every miraculous moment.
“Each day don’t take it for granted,” said Willis. “Live to the fullest because you never know.”
