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Serviceman dies of stroke, fundraiser is ongoingFree Access




Tabitha and Salome Williams are shown with their young family. Submitted photo

Tabitha and Salome Williams are shown with their young family. Submitted photo

Editor’s note: This was submitted to the Gazette by Fallon Sarazin, close friend to Tabitha and Salome Williams. Salome a graduate of Mariposa County High School passed away recently after suffering a stroke. He was a military member. Many in the community knew him well. A fundraiser is being held for his family.

I grew up with Tabitha and Salome in a small mountain community in California. They are those people that are always positive, remained strong in their faith even in trying times and just exhibited kindness. They were high school sweethearts and genuinely good people.

Tabitha endured some extreme trauma in her childhood and Salome was always her rock. They got married in 2012 and he joined the U.S. Army to carry on the family tradition. When Tabitha was pregnant with their second child, she suffered a ruptured aneurysm and by some miracle survived and made a complete recovery safely delivering their second son that summer. Fast forward four years: Tabitha and Salome are expecting their third child, a girl this time. A beautiful baby girl, named Amari.

However, their lives once again take a scary turn when they learn Amari has a heart defect that will require multiple surgeries once she is born. Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a rare congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped. Amari was born in December of 2018 and at just six days old, she underwent her first open heart surgery. She proved to everyone just how strong she was, and pulled through all the complications like a champ. At three months old, Amari made her way home. She was growing and getting stronger every single day. On July 5, 2019, at almost seven months old, sweet beautiful Amari passed away in her mama’s arms after a sudden complication from her heart condition.

Tabitha, Salome and their two young boys started rebuilding their lives after the loss of their precious baby girl. In December, Salome started having some medical troubles and it was determined he had pericarditis, which means a swelling and irritation of the thin sac-like membrane surrounding the heart (pericardium). They were able to remove a liter of fluid from the sac and sent it off for testing.

In January, they announced the expectation of their rainbow baby. Salome and Tabitha are pregnant with their fourth baby.

On Feb. 2, 2020 Salome suffered a stroke. He was being monitored overnight and that morning he coded. CPR was performed, and Salome was holding on by a thread. They did some testing and found a mass inside his pericardium. While waiting for results of imaging on the mass Salome began having organ failure. As the hospital worked to run tests and bring our friend back, he slipped into a coma. On Feb. 6, Salome was pronounced brain dead. On Feb. 8, he went to be with his daughter Amari.

A seemingly healthy 29-year-old father, husband, son and brother was gone in just a few short days.

Anything you can do to help this family is greatly appreciated. They’ve endured more than anyone should in their entire life in just a year.

Please continue to pray for Tabitha, the boys and all of Salome’s family and friends. Sharing and donating helps to bring Tabitha and her boys home to California from their duty station in Texas.

To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/f/for-salome-williams-and-family.

Due to a larger than anticipated gathering for Salome’s viewing we had to change locations to accommodate the increased size. The viewing will now be at Saint John’s Cathedral, 2814 Mariposa Street, Fresno, CA 93721. It will be from 1-5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21.

A fundraiser has been scheduled for this Friday, Feb. 21 at Pizza Factory in Mariposa, to help the Williams family. It will be held from 5-9 p.m. Fifteen percent of all sales will be donated directly to the family of Sgt. Williams. Pizza Factory is located at 5005 5th Street. For more information, call (209) 966-3112.

3 responses to “Serviceman dies of stroke, fundraiser is ongoing”

  1. dickestel@sbcglobal.net says:

    The Go Fund Me link gives a “not found” message.

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