Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand. As Woods said, he's remarkable.Īrt Spander, winner of the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism from the PGA of America, has covered over 150 major golf championships. It turned out Compton is anything but normal. My parents have done a great job of pushing me to be a normal child. Even when I got wheeled out of the operating room-and they have it on camera-I said I would still be a professional baseball player. "I told everybody I would be a Major League Baseball player at age eight. "I think it's a function of my makeup," he said of his determination to do what others doubted he could do. Still, it's the golf that has brought him recognition. They know that people's backgrounds and life stories are more important than just golf." "There's different characters in the game I feel like I've gained strength from," Compton said, "and it's nice to have the greats of the game take an interest in me because of my story. Chi Chi Rodriguez had given him advice as well. To the donors, whomever you are, thank you for your selfless gift.Jack Nicklaus has offered advice to Compton. We have to be thankful for the donors,” Compton concludes. All recipients carry that with them, whether it’s a living donor or not, this beautiful gift comes at the cost of somebody else. It’s not easy because there is somebody on the other side of the story. “We all have to realize the gift of life and the beauty of transplant happens with the fall of another human being. He’s also appreciative of what a heart transplant means. Unlike most of us, Compton has been blessed with three chances at life and he is appreciative every single day. He embraces the responsibility that comes with being a professional athlete who’s gone through not one but two heart transplants. Like all superheroes, with great power comes great responsibility, and Compton is no exception. Of his experience giving back to youths waiting for transplants, Compton simply says, “A lot of times the young kids are the ones who inspire me because they’re doing so many marvelous things.” Staying grateful The Erik Compton Foundation has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support donor advocacy and education, medical-based transplant research and youth support programs. Relying on your support system is also crucial having family and friends who are there for you, as well as trusting the nurses and doctors who are taking care of you and making sure everything is as it should be, is half the battle. His advice to anyone anticipating a transplant of any kind is to be patient and to take it all one day at a time. “And I also didn’t have that many people to talk to who went through it a second time.” I was scared for other reasons,” remembers Compton. I was a young man trying to start a life and a family. At 28 years old, Compton went in for his second transplant in May 2008. With no internet in the ’90s, and not very many peers he could relate to, it was an isolating experience to say the least.īut an adult transplant was challenging for different reasons. I was very young so I was scared and excited at the same time for a new life,” Compton explains. He underwent a 12-hour procedure on May 20, 2008. In 2008, Compton had a heart attack and it was determined that he needed another transplant. “There weren’t as many people around that I could speak to. Compton was put on a donor list and when a 15-year-old girl was killed by an intoxicated driver in 1992, her still healthy heart was passed on to the 12-year-old Compton. Luckily, he was able to hold out for a few months while he waited for a new heart. Seventeen years later, however, the main artery in the front of his heart was totally blocked and Compton suddenly needed a second transplant. Thanks to that first transplant, he was able to lead a normal and active life, and begin his astounding career in golf. When Compton was just 12 years old, he received his first heart transplant because of a dilated cardiomyopathy diagnosis at nine years old – his heart was unable to adequately pump blood as it should.
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