Lifestyle Health Bernie Williams Says His Mother's Health Issues Inspired Him to Help Fight Liver Disease The former New York Yankees player, who is working with One Liver to Love to raise awareness about liver cancer, tells PEOPLE he has "a personal connection with liver disease" By Nicholas Rice Nicholas Rice Nicholas Rice is a Senior Editor for PEOPLE Magazine. He began working with the brand as an Editorial Intern in early 2020, before later transitioning to a freelance role, and then staff positions soon after. Nicholas writes and edits anywhere between 7 to 9 stories per day on average for PEOPLE, spanning across each vertical the brand covers. People Editorial Guidelines Published on October 20, 2022 10:35AM EDT Photo: Al Bello/Getty Bernie Williams' advocacy for liver disease patients is inspired by a very important family member. The former New York Yankees player, 54, is working with the One Liver to Love initiative to raise awareness about liver cancer, in part because of his mother, Rufina Williams. Noting that he has "a personal connection with liver disease," Williams tells PEOPLE exclusively that his mother "had hepatitis from a blood transfusion, and she had to get medication for it early on when I was a kid." "She didn't even know about it until she started getting sort of symptoms, and being treated for it was certainly something that impacted our lives," he continues, adding that his grandfather and uncle deal with liver issues as well. "So my connection to [One Liver to Love] has been through family members, and people that are close to me," he says. "That [made it] important for me to raise awareness about it." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Kristina Houser We Tried It: Batting Practice with New York Yankees Legend Bernie Williams Working alongside Blue Faery, the Global Liver Institute and Eisai Inc., Williams helped launch One Liver to Love "to raise awareness about liver health and things that can lead to liver cancer." "I joined this initiative to help other people be more mindful of their health habits, so they can live with the prospects of a healthy liver and better their lives as a whole," he says. Want to get the biggest stories from PEOPLE every weekday? Subscribe to our new podcast, PEOPLE Every Day, to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday. Kristina Houser Tapping into his baseball roots, Williams came up with "four bases" that can help support liver health: nutrition, exercise, sleep hygiene and mental health. "I tried to make an analogy of my baseball career. We've got four bases in baseball, so I figured that we'd have four bases of this initiative," he explains. "[If you are] mindful of those, it will lead you to have better overall health, and more importantly, better liver health." RELATED VIDEO: Meet the Daughter Who Donated Part of Her Liver to Save Her Mom: I Would Do It '100 Times' Dr. Mark Lewis, a medical oncologist and director of gastrointestinal oncology at Intermountain Healthcare, tole PEOPLE that the "rate of liver cancer cases has almost tripled in the U.S. since 1980, and in 2022, over 40,000 people will be newly diagnosed with the disease." Noting that "liver cancer is complex," Dr. Lewis says that the illness "can be thought of as a disease within a disease," given that "some people already have liver conditions before the diagnosis of liver cancer, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and cirrhosis from alcohol use or chronic viral hepatitis (Hep-B or Hep-C) infection." Dr. Lewis says the "most obvious sign" of liver problems is jaundice, which is the yellowing of the eyes and skin. Other signs can include dark urine, very light stool, itchiness and unexplained weight loss. He advises people to take their liver health seriously. "Time with your physician is precious," he tells PEOPLE. "Before an appointment, make sure you prioritize the problems that matter to you, and don't be afraid to share symptoms that you might find embarrassing." He adds: "Your doctor will keep everything you say in total confidence, then work with you to find answers and, ideally, solutions."