Scot Pollard.Photo:Tom Hauck /Allsport
Tom Hauck /Allsport
Scot Pollard, a former athlete who once earned a championship ring with the Boston Celtics in 2008, is nowin dire need of a new heart.
The 48-year-old, who spent 11 seasons with the NBA, has been admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s intensive care unit in Nashville as he awaits a heart transplant, theAssociated Presssaid in an article updated on Thursday.
PEOPLE was unable to reach a rep for Pollard.
Scot Pollard.Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty
Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty
According to the outlet, the 6-foot-11 basketball standout’s size could be a factor in finding “a pump big and strong enough to supply blood to his extra large body.”
“I’m staying here until I get a heart,” he told AP in a text message on Wednesday night. “My heart got weaker. [Doctors] agree this is my best shot at getting a heart quicker.”
Pollard was previously diagnosed with a genetic condition and it is believed that a virus he contracted in 2021 could have worsened the situation. However, his size makes finding a suitable donor all the more difficult.
He told the outlet that half of his siblings have the genetic condition, and the former Indiana Pacers player lost his dad to it when he died in the 1990s at the age of 54. Pollard was just 16 at the time.
“That was an immediate wake-up call,” he toldCBS 13 Sacramentolast month. “You don’t see a lot of old (7-) footers walking around. So I’ve known that my whole life, just because I had that seared into my brain as a 16-year-old, that — yeah, being tall is great, but I’m not going to see 80.”
During the phone conversation, Pollard, who also previously appeared as a contestant onSurvivor, added that the condition regularly affects his breathing.
“It feels like I’m walking uphill all the time,” he said.
Scot Pollard.Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty
Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty
Before being admitted to the intensive care unit, Pollard tried several alternatives to improve his health, including ablations, which are procedures to treat atrial fibrillation.
The process uses small burns or freezes to cause some scarring on the inside of the heart to help break up the electrical signals that cause irregular heartbeats. This aids the heart in maintaining a normal heart rhythm, perJohn Hopkins Medicine.
Pollard said health experts “all agree that more ablations [aren’t] going to fix this, more medication isn’t going to fix that. We need a transplant.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
He says now it’s up to “donor networks” to give him hope for a new heart, and that experts are “confident I’ll get a heart in weeks not months.”
“We went back and forth about letting people know about this. It’s come to its head and I think it’s really important to talk about it,” she said. “It’s kinda cathartic to get his story out.”
source: people.com
