As HonorBridge celebrates its 40th anniversary, we’d like to take a moment to honor one of our most dedicated volunteers, Coach William Knight. A two-time kidney recipient, Coach Knight has been advocating for organ donation in the Eastern part of NC for over 15 years.
“I met Coach Knight through an organization we were both volunteering for called Eastern North Carolina Donor Impact Project (ENCDIP), led by the late Reverend Dr. Sidney Locks and Barbara Lee,” said Latoya Joyner, a Community Relations Coordinator (CRC) at HonorBridge. “Our relationship goes back over 10 years and counting. He has not only inspired the community, but the teams that he has coached as well. While being a basketball coach for D.H. Conley and North Pitt High School, he would inspire his girls through motivational speeches, bringing in speakers, and being an example through his own story.”
Throughout the years, coaching basketball has been more than just a job for Coach Knight—it’s been his true calling. His career is rich with stories of the young lives he’s influenced. One such story is that of Olivia Dunn, a former player who created the website KidneyForCoach.com to support him during his kidney search. Another is the unexpected blessing of meeting not one, but three former players in the hospital on the day he had his second transplant.
“One former player checked me in, another helped prep me for surgery, and when I got into the operating room, a third player was in there,” said Coach Knight. “That’s what matters to me, what they do after basketball. I always tell the girls that I coach, ‘you’ve got a coach for life.’ I love to win, don’t get me wrong, but my coaching is more about the players. My players come first.”
Coach Knight’s story began in 2008 when he was diagnosed with kidney disease. After undergoing over three years of dialysis, he received his first kidney transplant in 2012.
“The hardest thing about waiting on a kidney is you’ve got to stay positive and see your blessings instead of looking for them,” said Coach Knight. “Every day that God wakes you up so that you can go to dialysis is a blessing. It’s tough, but you’ve got to have that fight in you. You just can’t quit.”
At the start of 2024, after providing him with 12 years of life, Coach Knight’s first kidney began to fail during the basketball season.
“I was coaching last year, but the swelling and the shortness of breath got worse and worse,” said Coach Knight. “I think I went on dialysis in May. It would take me 2-3 minutes just to put on a pair of socks, and then I had to struggle with getting my foot in the shoe. If I had to walk from one side of the room to the other, I would have to psych myself up due to the shortness of breath. It was incredibly frustrating.”
On Sept. 26, Coach Knight’s life was saved a second time when he received a kidney from a 35-year-old deceased donor.
“When I got the first kidney, I didn’t want to know who it was from, because that would mean I had to treat everyone the same, regardless of where they came from, their race, things like that,” Coach Knight admitted. “This time, I’m open to speaking with them and meeting them. She was a 35-year-old young lady. I’d love to tell her family thank you and that I’m sorry for their loss, but that she still lives on in me.”
Although he had to stop coaching at the end of last year’s season, today Coach Knight is back on the sidelines and helping out at Hope Middle School in Greenville, NC.
“The second blessing of my gift of life has given me a new life, so to speak,” said Coach Knight. “I don’t have to worry about dialysis, I can go places, I can live a normal life now. The nurses and doctors at ECU Medical Center have made my journey a lot better. In fact, I look forward to seeing my doctors. They were straight up with me, they told me what I had to do, and it worked. It makes a big difference when your doctors treat you like a human being.”
As far as advocacy goes, Coach Knight hit the road in 2009 and never stopped. “My journey began with the Eastern NC Donor Impact Project,” said Coach Knight. “We went out and gave information to minorities about becoming organ donors. That played a big part in my life, because I could give back what someone had given me. At one point I was signing up probably 300-500 people per month. I did a lot of travelling and a lot of engagements to tell my story. A woman named Barbara Lee was one of the nurses who helped me, and she would tell us that the first donor was God, who gave His son so we could live. That’s always stuck with me.”
While volunteering within the minority community, Coach Knight finds it most frustrating that older individuals often remain “set in their ways.”
“Young people have no problem signing up and being donors,” said Coach Knight, “but the older black community would simply say, ‘I came here with it, I’m leaving with it.’ But, if you could help someone to live a better life when you die, why not be an organ donor? When you die, you’re gone. Once the spirit leaves, the body stays here, so why not help someone? The Black and Hispanic communities have very low rates of donation, but we need organs the most! I still walk into dialysis centers, and 80% of the people on dialysis are minorities. God has possessed us all with a special power, and that power is putting your hand down to help someone up. That’s what organ donation means to me, putting your hand down to help someone up.”
As we celebrate 40 years in 2025, we asked Coach Knight what message he would share with HonorBridge employees.
“Simple; you guys are angels,” he said. “When I look at you guys, I see angels, and I really appreciate all that you do.”
Latoya, who has worked alongside Coach Knight for many years, continues to be inspired by his selfless acts of kindness, despite all that he has been through.
“One thing I will always remember about Coach Knight is a saying that he repeats from his ‘Queen’, or late mother, which goes, ‘do right and right will follow,’” said Latoya. “I thank Coach Knight for always being there when I called him to share his story and spread awareness within the community about donation. He is truly an inspiration to all he meets.”
