”Our favorite hangout was the study room. That’s where you’d often find Jason, James
[Lindsay, PharmD ’14] and me, cracking jokes while perusing our pharmacology books.
More than a few times, Jason retreated there on his own to lie on the floor and to
pray the pain of sickle cell anemia away—once in the middle of an exam. … Our study
room now bears Jason’s name, dedicated in loving memory to my best friend and fellow
graduate of PCOM’s inaugural PharmD class, a lasting tribute to Jason Walton O’Neal’s
grit, gumption and sly smile I’d do anything to see again. … Complications from sickle
cell disease took Jason from us on August 12, 2016, too young at age 35 and only two
years after he’d accomplished his goal of becoming a pharmacist, which at times seemed like an impossible dream when you consider the many health
obstacles he had to overcome during those four years. … Jason was the first person
I met at PCOM Georgia. We showed up for our pharmacy school interviews together in
2010, nervous and excited and hoping we’d be accepted into the school. You know how
you meet someone for the first time, but you sense you’ve met before? That’s how it
was with Jason and me. Turns out, we had graduated a year apart from Southwest DeKalb
High School some 10 years before our paths crossed again. … The truth is, I didn’t
know how sick Jason really was—nor did his other classmates or professors. Jason kept
his illness private and didn’t want anyone’s pity. The only outward signs of his disability
were a limp in his right leg from a childhood stroke that many mistook for a strut,
turned-in fingers on his left hand and his tall (6 foot), slender (130-pound) frame.
… Yet it was hard not to notice all the classes Jason missed while hospitalized with
repeated bouts of pneumonia. ‘Sicklers’ are susceptible to lung infections. ‘You were
in the hospital?’ classmates would ask when he’d reappear on campus. ‘Man, this is
normal for me,’ was all he’d say. … That was the thing about Jason. He just kept on
resisting, persisting and never, ever giving up despite his punishingly cruel and
relentlessly unforgiving illness. … It’s tough not having him here—in our daily text
messages, at Atlanta Falcons games and at my sons’ birthday parties—but Jason continues
to inspire and amaze me, just as I hope he does for future PCOM School of Pharmacy
students.”
Digest, the magazine for alumni and friends of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, is published by the Office of Marketing and Communications. The magazine reports on osteopathic and other professional trends of interest to alumni of the College’s Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and graduate programs at PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia.
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