Heart and soul of Laker Lacrosse : Scoble endures live-saving transplant By Brandon Boyd
Ryan Scoble returned to the lacrosse feld after recovering from a broken foot and noticed something diferent. Each time he practiced, he felt fatigued. After every drill, he felt fatigued. When he participated in warmups, he felt fatigued. He told himself it was part of the process of returning from injury. That it was just the shift of the seasons from winter to spring, and that his allergies were the culprit for his change in energy level. After seeing him struggling on the feld during a game in Wheeling, West Virginia, a member of the training staf pulled Scoble of the feld and evaluated him. The next day, after getting X-rays, he was quickly brought back in when the results of his X-rays returned. He had dilated cardiomyopathy. With his heart’s ability to pump blood diminished, his lungs were collecting fuid. Head coach Christopher Ryan, who describes Scoble as “super competitive” and “the best teammate he could be,” remembers being in the basement of Old Main when he got a call from Scoble. “As a coach, you’re just waiting for information. He’s 20 years old, super healthy and in shape, and you’re around him every day. Guys are getting nicked up, injured, sick, and you think it’s going to fall into the regular realm of things.” When he heard Scoble crying on the phone, he knew it was outside of that realm. “You can feel the sadness and worry through the phone. It punches you right in the chin,” Ryan said. “I had a moment of clarity that, oh my God, we’re dealing with a serious situation.” A normal level of ejection fraction, or how well the heart’s left ventricle pumps blood with each heartbeat, is between 50 percent and 75 percent. Scoble’s ejection fraction was 10 percent. “Frankly, I was scared going to bed every night thinking there was a possibility I would not wake up in the morning,” Scoble said. “I focused on negative thoughts like the fact that I was never going to get married,
buy a house, or start a family. I was in a very dark place.” As Scoble wrestled with his health and a new way of life, he took another turn for the worse — he went into cardiogenic shock. A cold virus attacked his heart, and after being rushed to the hospital, he was being transferred to the Cleveland Clinic to fgure out heart transplant options. The Mercyhurst community rallied around Scoble, and a GoFundMe page for him raised more than $83,000. After a brief period of waiting, Scoble got the news on Mother’s Day: the hospital found a match for his heart, and he would be receiving a heart transplant. On the day of his surgery, a team of nurses picked him up from his room and carted him to the operating room. “I felt like I was going into the biggest game of my life,” he said. “I was nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time.” Scoble’s transplant went well, and despite experiencing severe acute cell rejection, he was able to be discharged from the hospital after a month and begin the road to rebuilding his life. The experience changed Scoble, but his life wasn’t the only one afected. Coach Ryan, whom Scoble talked with daily during the entire process, has changed, too. “I told the team, we wouldn’t wish this on our worst enemy, and here it is happening to our friend. You really gain perspective and learn how to roll with the punches,” he said. “I’m not the same person as I was the day he told me he needed a new heart.” Coach Ryan and Scoble are not yet sure if he can return to the playing feld. If not, Ryan said a coaching spot will await Scoble. Either way, he will be welcomed with open arms. After all, on the playing feld, he always had heart. Now, of the feld, he has heart, too — a new, healthy one, ready to help him take on life once again.
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