What Do Open Heart Surgery, Coaching & Pole Vault Have in Common?

After open heart surgery one of the first questions I asked the surgeon was, "Will I be able to pole vault again?"  He looked at me like I received a bad batch of meds!!!!  He said , "Why would you want do do that?"

For the past 35 years I have coached track & field.  For the last 10 years I have focused on pole vault, a track & field event that is awesome!  At the age of 50 I participated in the Keystone Games, an annual Pennsylvania competition of many sports, including track & field!  That year I finished 3rd in the 50 & over pole vault competition!

My goal was to jump again at age 60!  In 2010, my quintuple by-pass, changed my focus!  Well,  I'm back!!!  Tonight I cleared 6 foot!  And maybe, in a year & a half I will compete in the Keystone Games again!  Let the training begin!  And to all my medical heroes, especially Dr. Burlingame - THANKS