Rock Hill facility cares for 100-year-old WWII vet’s decades-old wound

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Willie James White injured his leg in the line of duty during World War II in 1944. He was aboard a destroyer ship off the coast of Saipan when Japanese aircraft attacked with multiple bomb hits.

“We got hit by the Japanese Air Force. So, when the alarm goes off, you automatically know what it means, because you’re trained to react,” White said. “I got blown, and that’s where I got hurt.”

After the attack, White continued to serve in the U.S. Navy for the next 47 years. He said his time in the service took him across the world on countless missions.

“Japan, Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, Greece, you name it,” White continued. “There was no special job for me, you know; in the Navy, I try to do a little of everything you know. And they say, ‘Master and trade of all,’ you know.”

But throughout his tours and even after retirement, White said he is still carrying around a wound he thought would close.

“This wound has been an off-and-on battle for him, you know, for decades. And so that’s where we came into the picture,” said wound care physician Dr. Alison Garten.

At 100 years old, White receives weekly treatments for his battle scar at Piedmont Wound Care Center in Rock Hill.

Garten is White’s doctor. She told Channel 9 that she has been working closely with him for the last two years.

She explained that part of White’s treatment included removing all the unhealthy tissues. Over time, White’s wound went from a chronic condition to an acute condition.

“When I first saw this wound, I thought we had our work cut out for us,” Garten said. “It just amazes me that somebody of his age is just such a wonderful patient.”

“They worked on it until they got all that clean. What you see now, back to my normal leg. They did all that,” White echoed.

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