More people have walked on the moon than have lived four decades with a donor heart. On July 7, Simon Keith joined that exclusive club, marking exactly 40 years since his first life-saving transplant.
Long before he became the first athlete in the world to play professional sports after a heart transplant, Keith grew up in Greater Victoria. He played youth soccer with the Lower Island Youth Soccer Association before suiting up for the Prospect Lake Lakers in the Vancouver Island Soccer League.
He graduated from Mount Douglas Secondary School and earned a soccer scholarship to the University of Victoria.
While at UVic, his exceptional play caught the eye of national scouts who considered him for Canada’s 1986 World Cup roster.
But everything changed when Keith was struck by myocarditis, a virus that attacks the heart muscle. At just 21 years old, he learned he needed a new heart to survive.
On July 7, 1986, Keith received a transplant from a 17-year-old donor in Wales, who just so happened to also play soccer.
Incredible as it sounds, he returned to the pitch after surgery to play at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels.
That resilience launched his professional career in 1989 when he was drafted first overall into the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) by the Cleveland Crunch. He also played professionally with the Winnipeg Fury, Montreal Supra and eventually back home in Victoria, with the Vistas.
Three decades after his first surgery, Keith faced another fight for his life. In March 2019, he received both a second heart and a kidney from the same donor.
“Forty years ago, a family I had never met made a decision that gave me my entire life,” Keith said.
“Every heartbeat since has been a gift — one I owe to my donors and their families. This milestone isn’t really about me. It’s about them, and about every person waiting today for the same call that once changed everything for me.”
Keith was inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
In 2011, launched The Simon Keith Foundation, to support families of children undergoing transplants. The foundation has raised and distributed more than $10 million across Canada and the United States.
Most recently, Keith and his foundation sponsored every Canadian and American child competing at the Transplant Games of America and the Canadian Transplant Games.
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