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Jim Gilliam Taking a Sip of Water by Himself
Usually the Midnight Movies that we feature at this hour are pretty lighthearted in nature, certainly nothing life-changing or serious, but tonight we want to share something with you that puts everything in perspective and not only celebrates the miracle of life but of the importance of sharing and recycling.
Jim Gilliam is a local technical genius. He started really getting noticed when he was principal software engineer of Lycos way back in the day. After that he was the chief architect at eCompanies in Santa Monica, and later Business.com. When 9/11 went down and some were running to the Right and chasing the shadows of terrorism and supporting the war in Iraq, Jim began working with MoveOn.org where he met filmmaker Robert Greenwald.
Together the pair worked on the documentary "Uncovered: The War on Iraq", and they later co-produced exposes on Outfoxed, Wal*Mart, and Tom DeLay.
He went after these powerful subjects after fighting (and beating) cancer twice and while searching for a very rare donation -- he was in need of a double lung transplant, which was going to be extra tough since the 6' 9" Gilliam is as tall as he is brilliant and driven.
Last summer the OC Weekly had an excellent feature on him where they explained his tough predicament:
A single lung donation is rare enough, but Gilliam not only needs a pair, he needs a pair that will fit his long, thin frame. Even then, the long-term survival rate for lung transplants isn't what it is for other organs because of the difficulty in delivering medication directly to the lungs. For other organs, an injection or pills do the trick; inhalers for lung transplants are still in the experimental stage.
After waiting 387 days on the waiting list, two weeks ago the lungs arrived and Jim underwent a double lung transplant that has been intensely detailed in his parents' blog CheckOnJim.com.To watch Jim savor every drop of that drink of water above, and to read the love and positive attitudes coming from his parents' blog is truly inspiring and it makes tonight's "movie" all that more meaningful.
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After the jump... watch Jim eat!
Keep up the good work Jim!
If we don't see you at this year's Coachella, we hope to run into you at next year's.
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