NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Former Indiana Pacer Scot Pollard had a remarkable milestone Thursday, less than two weeks after receiving a new heart.
Pollard's wife, Dawn, posted a video showing him walking out of the hospital and ringing the bell, 13 days after receiving a heart transplant at the Vanderbilt Transplant Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
"HE MADE IT!! 13 days post heart transplant and he got to ring the bell! 🔔," Dawn Pollard posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Today was a good day," Scot posted, sharing his wife's video.
Wearing a shirt reading "But did you die?," Pollard danced down the hallway, shaking hands with doctors and medical staff on his way to the bell.
"I'm just going to yell it. 'Gettin' out!'" he shouted.
13News first shared Pollard's story in January.
After three ablations and multiple medicines, Pollard was placed on the heart transplant list in Indiana. But his wait was made more challenging by his size.
"I'm 6'11" and 300 (pounds). So I'm a big man," Pollard said. "It's particularly hard to me to think about that because my dad died on the transplant list because of his size."
His father, Pearl Icean Pollard, was 54 years old, stood 6 feet, 9 inches tall and weighed 380 pounds. Scot was just 16 years old when his dad died.
On Feb. 16, Pollard's wait was over.
"It's go time," Dawn posted. "This donor gave the most amazing gift of life and we are forever grateful."
She continued to share updates on her husband's progress, from daily exercise to leaving the ICU floor on Feb. 21, five days after surgery, to Thursday's joyous bell-ringing moment.
Pollard posted an update of his own Thursday evening, responding to a question about how he felt 13 days prior to the transplant as compared to today.
"Every single thing that could be different is different. When I woke from probably the most difficult surgery around, I immediately felt better. That told me two things: 1) the staff at @VUMCTransplant is incredible and 2) I was thinking I was ok. I wasn’t," he replied.
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