Gerald W. ("Jerry") Prose

Married with two children and two grandsons, Jerry received a heart transplant in August 2000 at UCLA. He competed in the 2002 U.S. Transplant Games in the 1000 meter run and 20km cycling. He is a media spokesperson and volunteer with Nevada Donor Network, the state's organ procurement organization.

Jerry's Story

My name is Jerry Prose. I am 49 years old, married, with 2 children (ages 27 & 22), and 2 grandsons (22 & 3 months). I am a retired Army officer and have lived in the Las Vegas area with my family since 1993.

In 1992, while still in the military, I was diagnosed with a heart disease, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. I was a very active runner at the time, logging 5 to 8 miles daily. I was told that I would ultimately go into congestive heart failure, with a heart transplant being the only probable cure. I found this very hard to believe, given my physical conditioning. Within a year’s time, however, my health deteriorated to the point where I was medically retired from the military.

Over the next 4-5 years, even under a strict medical regimen, my heart function gradually worsened. I had both a pacemaker and defibrillator (AICD) implanted in an attempt to extend my life. I went into cardiac arrest over half a dozen times, with the AICD “shocking” me back to life each time. As a last resort, I was put on the heart transplant list at the UCLA Medical Center in 1998.

In August 2000, after waiting almost 2 years for a suitable donor heart, I received my transplant at UCLA. I was 46 years old at the time, and my donor was an 18-19-year-old man. Words cannot express my feelings about receiving this “gift of life.” I am forever indebted to my donor and his family.

My first grandson was born 29 days after my transplant. We “snuck” out of UCLA to return to Las Vegas for his birth. Six weeks after receiving my transplant, the doctors said they had monitored my progress long enough, and that it was OK for us to finally return back home to Las Vegas. Little did they know that we had been going back for 2 weeks already. This was what getting the transplant was all about: a second chance at life, and I planned to make the most of it.

I remain determined to give something back to the organ transplant community. Other than enjoying life with my family, this is now my major goal in life. I am a volunteer with the Nevada Donor Network, our local organ procurement organization. I have given interviews to the media as a spokesperson on their behalf, and have talked to school groups and other organizations. I am the incoming Vice President of the Champions of Organ Sharing (COS), a southern Nevada organ transplant support group. I attended the 2002 US Transplant Games as a member of Team Nevada, competing in the 1000 meter run and 20 kilometer cycling race. Because of the Transplant Games affiliation with the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), I also work as a volunteer with the Nevada NKF, and am taking a more active role in their transplant related activities.

I am fortunate to be financially secure enough to pursue all these volunteer activities, and have never felt better about myself, or life in general. A precarious medical condition has opened my eyes and “heart”, and it is only now that I realize what is truly important in life.

Thank God for my donor, his family, and all the other donor families who have selflessly thought of others, such as myself, at their time of such horrible grief.