Michael Douglas is pictured at right with Children's Mercy Hospital respiratory therapist Marci Mulloy. On May 15, 2016, Douglas graduated from Wellsville High School as valedictorian of his class.

Wellsville — Children’s Mercy Hospital respiratory therapist Marci Mulloy wiped away tears as she talked about 18­-year-­old Michael Douglas. He has a rare lung disease that requires him to use oxygen at all times.

She said doctors had predicted he wouldn’t be able to attend kindergarten because of fatigue. They also didn’t expect him to live past the age of 13. He proved them wrong.

On May 15, Michael graduated from Wellsville High School as valedictorian of his class. Mulloy was among dozens of people who attended his graduation party at the Wellsville Community Center. She has known Michael since he was an infant, and he was a ring bearer in her wedding.

“He has been amazing. I think he touches everybody’s lives and changes it forever,” she said.

The Journal-World first wrote about Michael in February 2009, when he was a fifth-grader. The newspaper, for about a year, followed his progress and reported on the many people who reached out to him after the original article.

Earlier this month, Michael’s mother contacted the original reporter, sending an invitation to Michael’s graduation and a note expressing that the kindness that Michael received after the article may have been a “turning point” for him.

But, of course, Michael has done the hard work. Mulloy said she believes Michael has done well because he has a positive attitude and is surrounded by people who are caring and provide a lot of support, especially his parents, Lisa and Michael Douglas.

“Some days, a family like this one will walk into your life and you hope that you will never have to let them go,” she said.

A rare illness

Just before his first birthday on Feb. 23, 1999, Michael began breathing rapidly, so his parents took him to the hospital emergency room in Ottawa. From there, he went by ambulance to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.

Michael Douglas is pictured with his parents, Michael and Lisa Douglas, and sister Mikayla.

One year later — after numerous hospital stays, tests and surgeries — Dr. Philip Black, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children’s Mercy, diagnosed him with interstitial lung disease. It’s an illness that causes progressive scarring of lung tissue, and so it affects Michael’s ability to breathe. Black said it’s basically a stiffening of lung tissue.

After the diagnosis, Michael was sent to Houston, where he saw a specialist who created a regimen for how to live with the disease because there is no cure. It included medicines, a two­-day steroid treatment every six weeks and a food pump at night. They’ve stuck with the regimen, just updating it as Michael has grown and new medicines have become available. Michael also exercises good health practices to avoid illnesses like flu, and he avoids temperatures below 50 degrees because the cold affects his breathing.

When he’s at home, he uses a large oxygen tank that’s hooked up to a long hose, so he can move around the house. When he’s away from home, he uses a backpack to carry a small oxygen tank that weighs about 8 pounds. He changes it every five hours with the help of family and friends.

His father, also named Michael Douglas, said he is very proud of his son’s accomplishments. “He is just as tough as nails, and he put in a lot of work. There were times when he was really sick and there were assignments due, and he would still get them done,” he said, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Michael’s teachers agree that he exudes determination. Elba and Ann Unruh, his teachers in second grade and kindergarten, respectively, attended his graduation party. Elba Unruh said he and Ann became engaged at an all-­school assembly when Michael was in grade school. Elba asked Michael to deliver the ring while he was on one knee in front of the crowd.

“Honestly, all of the teachers couldn’t wait to have Michael in their class because they knew what a great kid he was,” he said.

Ann Unruh talked emotionally about the support Michael gave her last fall during her battle with colon cancer. She said Michael encouraged his friends to wear “Team Unruh” T-­shirts and then he sent her pictures of them. “To see him walk across and get that diploma was a huge deal,” she said. “It was very emotional. He has beat so many odds.”

Sports fanatic

Michael plans to attend Ottawa University in the fall, where he will study sports administration and be the director of basketball operations.

That’s no surprise, given he loves sports and is a self-described sports nut, especially when it comes to Kansas University basketball.

“Sports is the best medicine,” Michael said, with a big smile. It gives him something to focus on instead of his illness. He keeps up on schedules, statistics, recruits, plays and trades.

Soon after the first Journal­-World article, “A Little Miracle,” was published about Michael in 2009 when he was a fifth­-grader, he was invited to meet the KU basketball team and coach Bill Self. Michael said he would never forget being in a team huddle inside the locker room. “I remember it vividly. Every step of it. Every step,” he said.

Michael and his family also were invited to Miami by former KU basketball standout Mario Chalmers, who at the time was playing for the Miami Heat. The Douglas family attended a game, toured the locker rooms and participated in a family event with the players. Since then, Chalmers has invited Michael to games when he’s playing in the area. Michael and Chalmers both like No. 15, which is Chalmers’ KU jersey number, and use it as part of their Twitter account names. Chalmers recently, via Twitter, congratulated Michael on enrolling in college, saying, “Congrats, young homie. Keep workin’.”

Michael’s story has inspired other collegiate and professional athletes, who have reached out to him and invited him to games or practices or given him sports memorabilia. Among them are former Kansas City Royals pitcher Tim Collins, Chicago White Sox pitcher Carson Fulmer and KU basketball player Clay Young. Michael also has become close to Brady and Blaize Foltz, who played four years of football at Texas Christian University. He used to travel to Forth Worth, Texas, to cheer them on at least once a year, and they introduced him to nearly the entire team. “They’ve been great role models for me,” Michael said. “They’re like family.”

Michael, who received a high school graduation card from coach Self, said he would always be a diehard Jayhawk fan. Someday, he hopes to work for the KU athletics program. That, he said, would be his dream job.

Mulloy, his longtime respiratory therapist, believes he will achieve anything he sets out to do. “He is going to do great things in this world.”

— Lawrence resident Karrey Britt, a former reporter and editor for the Journal-World, wrote the original story about Michael Douglas that was first published in the Lawrence Journal­-World in February 2009. She stayed in touch with Michael and his family for about a year and wrote blogs about the sporting adventures that ensued from the story. Six years later, Michael’s family invited her to his graduation party. Lisa Douglas wrote: “I just wanted to connect with you to sincerely thank you for all you have done for our family. Michael was a fifth­-grader at the time of the article and now is a senior in high school. The article was written in February 2009 after he had been very sick for about a month. Thinking back, I really believe your article was a turning point for Michael because it led him to so many exciting sports adventures.” Britt is now communications coordinator at the Lawrence­-Douglas County Health Department.