At 55, Kevin Lind has a second chance at life.
Lind, Olathe, recently celebrated his one-year anniversary of having a heart transplant.
Before that, he remembers several close calls – “feeling the sheet come over my head.”
Lind is the son of Iolans Bob and Lenora Lind. He was graduated from Iola High School in 1975 and attended Allen Community College before advancing to Pittsburg State University to pursue a degree in psychology. He then took business courses at the University of Kansas before settling in sales in Kansas City.
“I’ve always been in sales of some sort,” he said, recalling the days when he worked for Max Lewis at Dryer’s Shoe Store while a student at IHS.
It wasn’t until he was in his early 40s that he first realized his health wasn’t picture perfect. In 2003, he had a stroke from what doctors determined was high blood pressure.
Lind didn’t look sick. In fact, his biceps were so muscular that a blood pressure cuff couldn’t fit around his upper arm.
“I knew from my training as a firefighter I was experiencing a stroke, but I thought I could shake it off,” he said.
He slung back a handful of baby aspirin and headed to his daughter’s school where he was due to pick her up.
It wasn’t until the school nurse told him his left eyelid was droopy that his fears were realized. He had had a stroke of the left cranial nerve.
OVER THE course of the next five years Lind’s health slowly deteriorated.
“I was still working. Your body adapts. It wasn’t until I realized I had to sit more to catch my breath that I thought something might be wrong.”
In 2008, Lind saw a cardiologist who determined Lind’s heart was working below capacity, although he couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause.
Lind was outfitted with a pacemaker that kept his racing heart in check.
“I felt great. Not short-windedwHis heart was beating 220 beats per minute, signaling ventricular tachycardia.
