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Kyle Garlett

Kyle Garlett

Cancer Survivor & Ironman Triathlete

n October 10, 2009, Kyle Garlett became the first heart transplant recipient.

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On October 10, 2009, Kyle Garlett became the first heart transplant recipient ever to compete in the world’s most famous endurance challenge, the Ironman World Championship held annually in Kona, HI. Not only was it a history-making day for Garlett, it was also the exact three-year anniversary of his heart transplant; a surgery that was required after a bone marrow transplant in 1995 – one of his four different battles with cancer – irreparably damaged his heart.

On September 26, 1989, Garlett was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The then 18-year old high school senior would spend every afternoon for the next five months going to the doctor after school for daily radiation treatments.

In 1991, after almost 16 months of remission, his cancer returned. Six months of a grueling seven-drug course of chemotherapy followed and again, victory was achieved through remission. But in late 1994 another swollen lymph node appeared, and another bout with the Hodgkin’s ensued. This time intense chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant was the chosen course of therapy. It worked. The Hodgkin’s disease was finally defeated, but the severity of the treatments left Garlett with a damaged heart, and later, in 1997, a frightening secondary diagnosis of Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Against the odds, and after three more years of debilitating chemotherapy, Garlett emerged from his battle with leukemia (his fourth battle overall) finally cancer-free.

In 2000 he finished his final cancer treatment, but he was far from healthy. The heart damage sustained in 1995 (chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy was the diagnosis) was deteriorating further. And in 2001 he was placed on the heart transplant waiting list and implanted with a lifesaving pacemaker. October 10, 2006, after five and a half long years of anxiously waiting on the list, he got the life-giving call. Garlett had his new heart, and new life to live.

Once he received his new heart, Garlett took up the sport of triathlon, crossing his first finish line just 11 months later. Now, following a return trip to Kona in 2010 and a date with the Ironman course in Tempe, Arizona in November 2011, he is powered by the most famous heart among all triathletes.

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Topics

Topics

Facing Obstacles with Determination & Wisdom

Accepting What Life Brings

Live Each Day As If It’s Your First

Videos

Videos

Kyle Garlett Transitioning to Public Speaking
Kyle Garlett Accepts Spirit of Joshua Award

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