Superheroes, real and imagined, inspire man who has beaten all odds to live 36 years – York Daily Record/Sunday News

Dwayne 'The Rock" Johnson once told Derek O'Melko that he is the real champ.

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Meet Derek, told as infant 36 years ago he had a few years to live

Derek O'Melko's mother Debbie McLaughlin was told 36 years ago her infant only had 3 to 4 years to live. Meet them both as they find inspiration.

Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record

Derek O'Melko lives in a room filled with superheroes like Spiderman, Aquaman andWonder Woman.

Endowed with special powers and unparalleled strength, they are characters heenvies because hehas felt like a bit of an outsider all his life, different in a world full of normal people. It leads to dark moments, even dark days.

Born with multiple heart issues, O'Melko's prognosis was grim: He would live just three to four years.

He defied all odds.

Now 36 years old, he liveswith his mother and stepfatherin East York.

He knows he's fragile.

All the things I want to do, I cant, and that bothers me, he said.

The superheroes help. In his darkest moments, he watches an Avengers movie or Ironman. He's inspired by the challenges they face and overcome.

He has had his own share of hurdles, like14 surgeries, including reconstruction of his heart, but the fight isnt over. Now he has a paralyzed lung and a failing liver.

Right when I think he isnt going to survive, he pulls through, said his mother, Debbie McLaughlin. Last time I told him to let go and go home to God, and a tear rolled out of his eye, then he pulled out of it.

Hope is something he has learned to live without, but he matches that void with an indomitable will to live.

Somewhere deep inside his soul, he finds the strength to keep going, his mother said.

On a long walk recently, McLaughlin stopped at a usual spot for her the statue of Jesus outside her sons old school. She prayed for strength.

On this day, a man stopped in his car and asked, Are you OK, honey?

She told him: Im having a discussion with God today.

Faith guides both mother and son, but theyre honest about what that means for O'Melko: Hes angry at God and sometimes skeptical. This is what he tells her: I just wish I knew for sure, Mom. I need proof.

Hes angry that his life has been so full of turmoil and pain and surgeries. He just wants to be normal, like everyone else, McLaughlinsaid. Its just been a brutal time.

Conversations about faith and God often happen at bedtime, when O'Melkois most frightened. Doctors have said that his life is most at risk when hes sleeping.

Its a tightrope walk between life and death for O'Melko, and McLaughlinbalances there, too. They have talked about death and Heaven since hes been born.

I always say to him, If I go first, Ill be waiting for you. And if you go first, Ill be with you, too, McLaughlinsaid. I always tell Derek its going to be so beautiful and wonderful. If I didnt think there was more to life than this, I wouldnt be able to go on.

He calls her Wonder Woman.

When hes gone, it will be my time to go too, McLaughlinsaid. Weve only had each other.

Among the superhero toys and life-size figures in O'Melkos possession are a few championship pro wrestling belts, flashy gold and leather pieces that mesh body armor and a trophy into one. The champion behind these belts is The Rock.

He has a heart of gold. Hes an angel, O'Melkosaid, referring to Dwayne Johnson, who turned a successful professional wrestling career into Hollywood stardom.

Such a big fan of his, O'Melkowanted to meet him, so his mothermade the right connections years ago for it to happen. They flew to California, and The Rock stood beside a Hummer as O'Melko, a young man,ran into his arms. They stayed in touch for years.

I would say he is my main inspiration to just not give up and just keep going, O'Melkosaid.

Like the superheroes, Johnson had challenges growing up. His father, also a professional wrestler, wasnt home much, and the family was poor.

When he was playing college football, he would go to practice to get sandwiches because he couldnt afford food, O'Melkosaid.

That strength of will and determination resonate with a man whose will to live comes so naturally. His resolve trumps all his heroes.

O'Melkosent one of the wrestling belts back to The Rock for him to sign.

These were the words Johnsoninscribed on it: To Derek: The true champ.

O'Melko was just 2 weeks old when he went into cardiac arrest for the first time. A few days later, he endured his first open heart surgery. McLaughlin and her boy lived at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia on and off for years after that. He hasseven heart anomalies; among them,a missing heart chamber.

His health now is failing again. He has use of onelung, but it's paralyzed, suffers ongoing cardiac issues, and a failing liver that's at risk for cancer.

Just before Thanksgiving, O'Melkowalked up the stairs from his basement apartment and told his mother something was wrong. A medical educator and former emergency medical technician, McLaughlinran for her medical bag. By the time she returned, her sonhad collapsed.

It was an acute cardiac event, she said, but O'Melkodidnt want to go to the hospital. At 36, hes on palliative care, which focuses on relief from the symptoms of a serious illness, andhe has a votein what happens to him.

We were on the floor for about an hour, and he started to come around a little, she said. His vital signs started to improve, then he stabilized.

Hes had all of these issues, but this was scary, she said. Ive prepared for Derek to die since hes been born. When he collapsed last night, I thought: This is it.

At 62, McLaughlinworks a busy schedule, and she sleeps little at night, checking on her son constantly. One of their former neighbors, York Daily Record sportswriter Frank Bodani, is another angel to them. He calls O'Melkodaily, and the two occasionally go out for a few hours. Since a failed heart reconstruction a decade ago, traveling is challenging for him.

We cant look ahead. We dont plan for our future because we dont know what we have, McLaughlinsaid.

He wants to visit Greece and climb Mount Olympus - Hercules was his first hero -but hes too ill to go that far, shesaid.

Instead, hes made three attempts at running the 72 Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He made it to the top each time, but he couldnt jog all the way up. To him, thats not good enough.

I tell him you have to look for that little bit of light wherever you can, McLaughlinsaid.

Kim Strong can be reached at kstrong@gannett.com.

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Superheroes, real and imagined, inspire man who has beaten all odds to live 36 years - York Daily Record/Sunday News