After 19 years of service on the police force, Derek Williams is facing termination just six months before he was scheduled to retire. However, Williams is more concerned about how the early termination and subsequent insurance loss will affect his health.
“I do nine hours of dialysis, seven days a week, to maintain my health. Without that, I wouldn’t survive,” Williams told ABC 7 NYC.
The police veteran’s dialysis is to manage his ongoing kidney failure. Despite his health, doctors cleared him to do light, desk duty. However, the Mount Vernon Police Department says Williams will be terminated on Dec 31. This reportedly comes after the department classified his kidney failure as a “non-job-related illness” and paused his paycheck when he became too sick to work.
“I begged for my job back, “Williams explained. “I begged to come in whatever hours I’m capable of doing, and I was told there’s no light duty for me. I just feel like they have no empathy, they have no compassion.”
Throughout his years on the police force, Williams, who worked on the Elite Emergency Service Unit, has lived by his vow to serve and protect communities. So much so that in 2020, he contracted COVID-19 after working a double shift during the pandemic.
“Derek’s character caused him to come to work to support this city and the residents of this city during the worst pandemic that we’ve had,” Shawn Harris, the former Mount Vernon police commissioner, shared. “To be blunt, if you’re terminating his employment, you’re terminating his life, in so many words.”
The Mount Vernon Police Department declined to comment, telling ABC 7 NY that they “can’t comment on personnel matters.”
With a pending application for disability pension, Williams is reportedly on the wait list for a kidney transplant.
