By Ken Abbott
Have you ever walked through a door seriously wondering if you would ever return? Three years ago I walked out the door at the school where I teach and all I could think was, “Will I ever get a chance to walk through these doors again?”
My name is Ken Abbott and I am a teacher at Grand Avenue Middle School on Long Island. At 8:52 am that morning while I was supervising the library, I got a call from my doctors at Mount Sinai saying that I had been matched with a donor for a heart transplant. I had 4 hours to get to the hospital. I was heading out the door to drive myself to the city for a lifesaving operation. I would like to share this story with you to show how wide an impact a single organ donation can have on an entire community.
2016 had been a difficult year at school. We had two of our teachers die before the Thanksgiving break. I had arrived on the first day of school with an internal medical device called an LVAD, which was doing 90% of the work of my heart. My students saw the bag that I carried that contained the batteries and control unit that kept my body functioning. They could see the wire coming out of my side connecting to my power supply. On the first day of school I had written a letter to the students and parents letting them know about my condition. Everyone was supportive; the students even understood that it was OK when my cell phone went off in class. I just couldn’t afford to miss that call. We needed a miracle.
The call actually came on December 22nd, 6 months after being placed on the transplant list and two days before our holiday recess. The news spread through the building like wildfire and people were lining up to say good luck while I was heading out. As I drove to the hospital, I was using the Bluetooth on my phone to call everyone I cared about to let them know the time had come. My family and some friends were able to spend a few hours with me at the hospital before I walked myself down to the operating room for the surgery that would change my life.
Fortunately, everything went well. One of my first requests when I came out of the recovery room was for my computer so I could send word to my students that I was doing well. It took a couple of months recovery before I was allowed to return to the school for a visit. It felt so good to walk back through that door again. Everyone was so excited to see me. I walked into the lunchroom to try and find some of my students.
When I came across my first student, she was so shocked to see me that she couldn’t speak. In no time she had tears rolling down her cheeks as she realized that I was back. I couldn’t hold it in and soon tears of joy came to my eyes. I told her that everything was going to be OK — our school had gotten its miracle.
I returned to teaching after our April break. My students performed well on all of their exams that year, but I know that they learned many far more important lessons about life from the experiences that we shared. We all knew that I would not have returned if it had not been for the selfless organ donor who saved my life and the lives of two other recipients.
I’ve had so many great opportunities since my transplant. I proudly watched my youngest daughter graduate from college. I’ve witnessed a total solar eclipse, saw a rocket launch from Cape Kennedy, taken a full moon kayak around Biscayne Bay, and even completed a 100-mile bike ride. None of this would have been possible without the gift of life.
One truly remarkable experience was participating in the 2018 Transplant Games of America in Salt Lake City, Utah as a member of LiveOnNY’s team. My teammates and I joined over 5,500 other participants in a 6-day festival honoring organ donors and donor families. We celebrated the accomplishments of transplant recipients and the medical personnel who made our success possible. And we paid tribute to all those who gave the gift of life. It was a life-changing event that brought together people from all over the planet to champion the power of organ donation. I was fortunate to compete in the virtual triathlon and even managed to earn a bronze medal in the long jump competition. It was an incredible experience that would not have been possible without my selfless organ donor. I encourage everyone to consider registering to give the gift of life and save someone like me.
Ken Abbot resides on Long Island with his family. In his spare time he is a very active volunteer for LiveOnNY.
