PORT ANGELES — Sunday marked 23 years since William Earl Hutt received the heart transplant that allowed him to live until he was nearly 24 years old.
The Port Angeles resident passed away Feb. 11 of heart failure after living a wonderful life, his family said during his celebration of life Sunday at the Eagles Aerie in east Port Angeles.
“He was always proud of the fact that he had somebody else’s heart,” said his mother, Dori Hutt. “I want people to know that while he is gone now, organ donation works.
“We were very lucky to have him for 23 years.”
He was born with Noonan syndrome, a condition that affects many areas of the body and causes short stature, heart defects and other symptoms. It caused him to have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, she said. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a condition that makes it hard for the heart to pump blood.
When he was two hours old, he was airlifted out of Olympic Medical Center with major heart failure, Dori said.
At 9 months old, he became the youngest University of Washington patient — at the time — to receive a heart transplant, doctors told Dori.
Hutt was remembered for his jokes, his love of football, comic books, road trips and his life-long fascination with all things Batman.
When he was about 1 year old, his mother put on a VHS of the Batman TV series for him to watch. From that point forward, “everything was Batman,” she said.
Many who attended his celebration of life wore Batman shirts, hats, beanies or buttons in honor of him.
Hutt had a vast collection of comic books, movies and figurines, his mother said.
“I don’t know how he did it, but out of over 1,000 comic books he only repeated two of them,” he said. “That’s just how his memory was.”
Hutt enjoyed going to comic book stores in Seattle. Many of the store owners knew him and would save new issues for Hutt to add to his collection, she said.
Hutt, who graduated from Port Angeles High School in 2012, loved to learn, she said.
“He loved school, he loved his teachers, he loved the students, his classmates,” she said.
Because he took extra computer classes, Hutt only had to take two classes his senior year.
While he loved learning, he also enjoyed not having to go to school until about 11 a.m., she said.
She said she is thankful the Port Angeles and Sequim communities both supported Hutt and his family through his entire life.
When Hutt was told he should move closer to Seattle to be closer to the hospitals, he refused because Port Angeles was home, she said.
“Port Angeles and Sequim raised William,” she said. “This whole community was his support and his family.”
He spent much of his time in and out of hospitals, but his mother did whatever she could to give him an amazing life, she said.
Through the Make a Wish Foundation, Hutt was able to go to Disneyland and see Mickey Mouse, she said.
Five years ago Hutt convinced her to take him to Comic-Con, where he met Adam West, the actor who played Batman in the original Batman TV series.
Throughout the past year, it became clear there was little doctors could do anymore to help, she said.
His systems were failing. His lungs were going downhill, he had a brain tumor and lymphoma, she said.
Hutt took her son on a regional road trip last year, which he loved, she said.
A couple donated a motor home for the family to use, which made the trip possible, she said.
When they returned, Hutt talked to his doctors about his quality of life and what he wanted to do.
After spending much of his life in hospitals, he wanted to stay home with his mother.
In his last few months, Hutt spent much of his time playing video games, watching his movie collection, searching and learning on the internet, reading football books and working on math books, she said.
“He just wanted to be home with me and that’s what we did,” she said. “We followed his wish and he died in my arms.”
His aunt, Norma Davis, said she will always remember Hutt’s smile and his optimistic attitude.
“He was a happy kid,” she said. “Even when he was sick he was hopeful.”
Because an organ donor made Hutt’s life possible, her family strongly supports organ donors, she said.
Both Davis and his mother hope more people will become organ donors.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
William Hutt and his mother, Dori Hutt.
