Ex-NBA Player Sends Appreciation To Heart Donor

A retired NBA big man and a former contestant of the reality series "Survivor” wants to express his feeing and write it down to the family of his heart donor.

"We want you to know that your loved one’s heart is going to be loved and cared for and will give love back," Scott Pollard said in a letter that was sent through the transplant network to the hospital where the heart was harvested. "Your loved one is our hero."

A few days ago, Pollard heard back from the donor’s family, who are willing to meet with him.

"I read the letter a couple of times and it was hard because tears were in my eyes the whole time," Pollard told The Associated Press last 7 October. "I already knew that somebody’s life was cut short. And so, you know, the feelings are mixed. Just like receiving the heart in the first place: I went through a big round of guilt because I knew somebody had to die for me to live."

An 11-year NBA veteran and a member of the 2008 champion Boston Celtics, Pollard inherited a condition from his father, who died at 54, when Scot was 16. Scot Pollard had known for a few years that his only solution was a heart transplant, but finding a donated organ big enough to pump blood through the 6-foot-11, 260-pound former NBA center was a challenge.

In February, doctors found a match, and the transplant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center was successful. Afterward, Pollard told the AP, he learned his own heart was "a wreck."

"I don’t think I would have made it another couple of weeks," he said then.

As he recovered, the 49-year-old former Piston, King, Pacer, Cavalier, Celtic and Kansas Jayhawk used his basketball and reality show fame to raise awareness for organ donations. He also grew even more determined to thank the donor’s family — though doing so requires navigating a process that is intentionally convoluted and lengthy, to protect everyone's privacy.

"You warmed our hearts with your kind words concerning your donor who was loved beyond measure," the donor's family responded. "(It) was an incredibly hard day for those of us that loved your donor … but we rejoiced knowing that others would be helped."