Man continues love for running after heart transplant

By Griffin Gonzalez

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    INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (WRTV) — Everyday 17 people die while waiting for an organ donation. Indianapolis runner David Wilkerson was nearly one of them.

“it was tough,” explained Wilkerson. “Almost passing away and then waking up, and then waking up to that news that you need a transplant.”

A few years ago, David was running when he noticed something didn’t feel right. The feeling did not go away and he decided to see a doctor.

“(I) found out my pulse was super low,” recalled Wilkerson.“I had a defibrillator and pacemaker put in and found out I had a form of muscular dystrophy.”

Wilkerson felt his condition had been treated. Four years later, his conditioned worsened.

“Basically, his heart was not supporting his whole body,” shared IU Health cardiologist Dr. Roopa Rao. “His blood pressure was dropping and on top of it, his heart was going out of rhythm consistently. The deterioration was so quick that we had to put him on an artificial heart and bypass machine to support the whole body.”

The only solution was a heart transplant.

“It’s just the fear of the unknown. You don’t know how long you’re gonna wait,” David said.

Just days later, David received a heart from a father in Alabama after his sudden death and his daughters decision to donate his organs.

“Not only is he my hero but she is my hero because they both played a really big part,” David shared while holding back tears.

Just one year after the transplant, David ran the Indianapolis Mini Marathon alongside one of his doctors, Onyedika Ilonze.

“He tells everyone that he beat me,” said Ilonze.

In July, Wilkerson will participate in the Transplant games against other heart transplant recipients in Birmingham, Alabama. The hometown of his donor.

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