Three years ago Kevin Lind was knocking on death’s door.
Today, the former Iolan is in Houston to compete at the Transplant Games of America. He will compete in 100- and 200-meter dashes, long jump and shot put. Over the past several months he has trained with enough zeal to add 35 pounds of muscle.
That’s a stark contrast to just four years ago, when Lind underwent a heart transplant and then suffered a debilitating disease called cardiac sarcoidosis.
“I was down to 165 but now I’m up to 200 pounds and feel like I’m ready to compete.”
His first health problems occurred in 2003 when he suffered a stroke, attributed to high blood pressure. Over the next five years his health slowly deteriorated. A checkup revealed his heart was working below capacity, but the cause wasn’t apparent.
A pacemaker kept his heart from racing. Six months later he passed out, actually felt like he was dying. He recovered some and then suffered ventricular fibrillation, “where your heart shakes like Jell-O.”
That episode and scar tissues on his heart prompted doctors to recommend a transplant. After some thought he was put on a category 2 transplant list, which meant he could live independently until a suitable heart surfaced.
That changed dramatically on June 2, 2011, when trying experience led doctors to change his status to critical need. Within 24 hours he was alerted of a heart’s availability.
After six hours of surgery, Lind awoke and for the first time in years he could breathe deeply.
A HEART transplant isn’t an end-all medical procedure.
“I will take medication the rest my life to help prevent rejection of the heart,” he said. “It’s a foreign object in the body, just like a splinter that causes infection as it works its way out.”
The meds suppress his immune system, which means he has to be careful to avoid becoming ill. The cold fact is he likely is more likely to suffer from colds, flu, even cancer.
For a while “I felt like I was walking on egg shells,” but as his post-transplant time grew, he realized “I had a great support system in my family (wife Ashley, daughters Sydnie and Raelea) and God.” His parents are Iolans Bob and Lenora Lind.
“I’m totally full of life now,” Lind added. “A year ago I was waiting for things to happen, but now I feel it’s time to make things happen, live a full life,” and get away from anxiety and depression.
He was eligible for the Transplant Games a year after surgery, but wasn’t quite ready to take on the obligation of training. But, with his new outlook Lind returned to the gym seven months ago, and worked “like I used to, making a comeback.”
“I’m doing it for all the donors and all the transplant recipients in the world, proving that after a transplant you don’t have to be a sedentary couch potato,” Lind said.
