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New heart gives climber reason to scale new heights

Contributed photo

ENLARGE PHOTO

Contributed photo

ENLARGE PHOTO

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Updated 2:46 PM Saturday, March 5, 2011

I did something really scary this week. I accepted an invitation to host a night-time radio show.

Cox Media, the folks who own this newspaper, also own a bunch of radio stations. They’re interested in seeing if we can take inspiring stories, mix them with music, and create the kind of night-time radio programming folks like you would enjoy listening to.

While I was flattered and intrigued by the opportunity, deep down it felt like I had stepped into a funny television commercial. “Ma’am, are you really a national radio host?” the voice would ask. “Uh, no, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.”

Funny thing is I really did stay at the Holiday Inn Express as I spent the week in Athens, Ga. The oh-so-accommodating and patient folks at WNGC-FM were chosen as my host laboratory. The idea was to come up for four nights, producing three hours of programming a night.

To get my best content and personal inspiration, I called on the inspiring people I’ve featured on my website, DarynKagan.com. I knew right away Kelly Perkins would be one of those people. She knows all about scary stuff. She was only 34 years old and a Southern California mountain climber when her heart caught some weird virus and failed. Doctors told her a heart transplant would be her only hope for survival.

Kelly was lucky enough to get that new heart, but that was only the beginning of her journey. She needed to get herself back, too. She and her husband, Craig, knew there was only one place that could happen — back on top of the mountains that she loves.

And so Kelly and Craig set out to make that happen. They’ve since climbed the tallest mountains in the world. With each expedition they find away to bring attention to the importance of organ donation.

Talk about not having any business trying something! What’s a woman with a transplanted heart doing climbing mountains? What about the physical exertion? The oxygen deprivation? Kelly explained to me the transplant had given her more than just the new heart pumping in her chest. It gave her purpose.

The first purpose was getting herself back. “When you’re active your entire life and you go through something like a heart transplant, it’s almost paralyzing the way you look at yourself. It can be so scary and it can really hold you back. You really have to shift your way of thinking.”

That’s all well and good, but I still wanted to know, “How does someone with a transplanted heart climb a mountain?”

“The same way someone with their original heart does,” Kelly so wisely told me, “by putting one foot in front of the other.”

Of course, it’s a bit more complicated for Kelly with her new parts and wiring. Figuring out how to make it work became just an item on her “to do” list because she now had the gift of knowing how she is supposed to make the world a better place.

“By climbing a mountain that has a feature like the natural shape of a heart — like El Capitan in Yosemite — for me to climb through the heart, it’s poetic and symbolic. I can share my story in a more inspirational light and hopefully encourage people to sign up and participate in organ donation.”

Kelly was shifting my thinking, helping me see when you find a purpose, when you get an idea that will help make the world a better place, it’s not about fear and listening to that voice that tells you that you have no business trying something new. It’s your job to put one foot in front of the other.

For Kelly, it’s about bringing awareness to organ donation. For me, it’s about spreading inspiring stories to the world — on as many media platforms as possible.

And you? What is it for you? What idea is stirring in your heart while your mind tries to convince you that you have no business taking such a leap?

I believe it’s time to do like Kelly, to listen to your heart and start putting one foot in front of the other.

That’s what I did this week with the radio program. I parked my daunting fear to the side and broke down the week into what this opportunity really was — 36 segments. I needed 36 stories and guests. As you might have guessed, Kelly Perkins was the first person I booked.

Daryn Kagan is the creator and host of DarynKagan.com, an online community that features a daily webcast of inspirational stories. The former CNN anchor and news reporter is the author of “What’s Possible! 50 True Stories of People Who Dared To Dream They Could Make a Difference.”