NBA and ‘Survivor’ Vet Scot Pollard Gets Heart Transplant
Scot Pollard, who spent 11 seasons in the NBA and competed on Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, underwent successful heart-transplant surgery on Friday, his wife said on social media.
“Scot has a new heart! Surgery went well and I’ve been told the heart is big, powerful and is a perfect fit! Now on to the crucial part of recovery,” Dawn Pollard posted.
“Thank you to everyone for the continued prayers and support, but most of all, deepest thanks to the donor, our hero.”
Pollard, 47, was admitted to the intensive care unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center nine days earlier in hopes that a heart appropriate for his 6-foot-11 frame could be found in time.
“I’m staying here until I get a heart,” he said in a text message to The Associated Press at the time. “My heart got weaker. [Doctors] agree this is my best shot at getting a heart quicker.”
He suffers from a genetic condition triggered by a virus he caught in 2021—a condition that killed his father—and had been outfitted with a pacemaker before the transplant.
During his decade-long pro basketball career, Pollard played for five teams, including the Celtics’ championship-winning squad in 2008. After retirement from the NBA, he branched out to entertainment, including Survivor—where he was voted off in Day 27 of the 32nd series.
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