English Joe - My Story

I was a seventeen-year-old English student living in Lowestoft, Suffolk, who had a dream of furthering my Rugby career in California, USA. To achieve this I applied for a position in the digital media course, at Cabrillo College in beautiful Aptos, California. My goal was to work hard, earn high marks in my courses therefore allowing me to be eligible to attend Berkley University on a rugby scholarship. Berkley, also referred to as Cal, was honored as having the best university rugby team in the United States; Cal won the national title the last 13 years standing.

I was so lucky as to have good family friends in California who were kind enough to accept me into their home for the duration of my studies. I had made it. I had finally taken the first few steps in accomplishing my goal. I was now a successful rugby player, living my dream in California. I enjoyed surfing, attending classes at Cabrillo, and playing the game I love for the Aptos Beachdogs Rugby Team. Academically I was doing very well, achieving all the grades necessary to fulfill my dream of being accepted into Berkley University.

I had the best of both worlds; a loving family and wonderful friends in England, and now the same in California. Life couldn’t get any better as far as I was concerned, however I soon came to learn that like the old English saying, “sometimes life has a good sting in its tail”.

I returned to England to spend my Christmas Holiday with my friends and family in December 2005. It was fantastic being back in my hometown being able to show my friends and family how much I had developed as an athlete. Upon my return back to California refreshed and recharged from Christmas, on February 22, 2006, my life took a staggering change of direction.

On the morning of the 22nd, I visited the student doctor at my college. I had been experiencing extreme fatigue and shortness of breath during and after a rugby match playing on the previous Saturday. After a chest x-ray I was immediately sent to the emergency room at Dominican Hospital. It was there that I first learned of my heart condition. I was suffering from severe cardiomyopathy, a heart condition that in rare cases effects young athletes. In layman's terms, my heart was extremely enlarged and was functioning at only a fraction of normal efficiency.

I was stabilized at Dominican Hospital and then transferred to Stanford Hospital where I was placed in the hands of a team of highly specialized cardiologists. After a full check up they determined that it was essential for me to be fitted with a defibrillator. Tragically, during the procedure it became apparent that my heart had already deteriorated too much, and I suffered complete cardiac arrest in the operating room. The remarkable team at Stanford managed to revive me and I underwent a ten-hour emergency open-heart surgery to install a LVAD (left ventricle assist device) to substitute for my failed heart. For the next several hours I lay in intensive care fighting for my life while my family tried to come to terms with the fact that I would be in need of a heart transplant.

I spent a total of 10 days in the ICU gradually being taken off various forms of life and body function support. The medical team at Stanford Hospital, worked diligently with me on a daily basis; they helped me train and grow stronger in the days leading up to my heart transplant. On April 3, 2006, a suitable donor was found and I underwent a successful seven-hour transplant operation.