2 heart transplants: 1 Golfer, Erik Compton

Professional golf takes stamina and training to get to the top of the sport. While it might not be as rough and tumble as other sports, to be able to walk a good pace for several days running, to hit those balls far and with great accuracy, and to keep the mental fitness to stay on track – these are all part of being an athlete.

So, what does a pro golfer do if he finds that he’s not quite so strong anymore, he can’t walk as far and he can’t hit the ball as hard – and he’s only 28 years old? This is what happened to Erik Compton, former University of Georgia and Nationwide Tour golfer. He’s not only a heart transplant recipient – he has had two heart transplants. Erik had his first heart transplant when he was 12 years old. He went on to become a pro golfer and dominated the Canadian Tour in 2004.

Now, in 2009, he’s back again, 11 months after he received his second transplant -  his third heart. His most recent competition was last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitation, won by Tiger Woods. Erik will be in Augusta, GA, next week at the Masters Tournament, to receive the Ben Hogan Award. This award is given each year to a golfer who has overcome or is overcoming a physical problem to continue to golf.

But what happened to Erik and why did he need two heart transplants? That’s a good question.

When Erik was 9 years old, he was told that he had an illness called viral cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a condition where the heart muscle is inflamed and unable to pump as hard as it should. There are three types of cardiomyopathy, but all three lead to the same thing. Treatment depends on the type of cardiomyopathy, but one in particular can only be helped through a heart transplant.

Erik was fortunate to receive the needed heart when he was 12 and it allowed him to keep living a normal life. Of course, someone who has a new heart has to take many medications to keep the body from rejecting it – the immune system can’t tell that the heart is there because we want it to be, it just sees the heart tissue as something foreign. When asked if he felt different as a teen, Erik responded, “The side effects of the immunosuppressive medication were severe. I was twice my size for the first year post transplant.” That being said, Erik also received the support he needed. “My peers at school were very supportive as the school rallied around my transplant, and the doctors and nurses came to school and explained the side effects. Other kids were sometimes brutally honest and stared.”

The funny thing is, we now know of Erik, the pro golfer with a transplanted heart, but he was also Erik, the advocate, long before. “I have taken an active role with the Transplant Foundation since I was 9 year old,” he explained. “I have been speaking in front of audiences as a “living prop” ever since. I have done appearances in elementary, middle, high school, colleges and clubs, as well as numerous TV appearances and interviews.”

Many people aren’t as lucky as Erik. They wait for years for a heart that never comes.  Why people don’t sign organ donor cards or speak to family members is an important question. Some people are afraid to because of misconceptions or myths. Just three nights ago, on the popular TV show, House, the patient was someone who had been in a cycling accident. The show was shot from the patient’s point of view and his thoughts. We see the patient looking the treating doctor but he’s unable to speak or move. He can hear what the doctor is saying – the doctor says, believing the patient is brain dead, that his heart is great for transplant. And you hear the patient panicking.

Luckily for him, Dr. Gregory House happens to be in the same ER because he’d crashed his motorcycle, so we know that it all ends well. But what struck me as important is that the show has just fed into the fear of people who are scared that they will be considered dead if they’re not.

In real life, it’s not the treating doctor who makes these decisions. Treating doctors are not that callous – they don’t want to lose patients, that’s not what they’re trained to do. A death is often looked at like a failure. Erik suggests that people who are listening to these myths and misconceptions visit Transplant Foundation Inc, United Network for Organ Sharing, and/or Donate Life, among others. Education is knowledge. To make an informed decision, you have to know what you’re facing.

In the end, Erik’s message is a simple one: “I would urge people to sign up to become organ donors. There are over 100,000 Americans currently awaiting a life saving transplant. You can make a difference. One donor can save or enhance the lives of up to 50 individuals.”

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Click here to read more in this organ donation series.

Images courtesy of Transplant Foundation, Miami, FL