Scot Pollard, a Celtics player and Survivor contestant, is waiting in the hospital for a heart transplant and……..
Being tall isn’t necessarily a curse. It isn’t. It remains a blessing. But I’ve known my whole life that there’s a good probability I won’t grow old,” Pollard added.
Boston Celtics centre Scot Pollard smiles as he faces media at a news conference to reveal the newly signed player at the team’s offices in Boston, Thursday.
BOSTON (AP)— Scot Pollard’s 6-foot-11 frame enabled him play in the NBA for over a decade, including a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008. It may now be causing his death.
Pollard need a heart transplant, an already severe situation made more harder by the fact that so few donors can offer him with a pump large and powerful enough to deliver blood to his exceptionally large body. On Tuesday, he was admitted to intensive care at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, where he will remain until a donor large enough to be a match becomes available.
“I’m staying here until I get a heart,” he told The Associated Press in a text message late Wednesday. “My heart grew weaker. Doctors believe that this is my best chance of developing a faster heart.
At over 7 feet tall and 260 pounds, Pollard’s stature knocks out most possible donors for a heart to replace the one that, due to a genetic abnormality likely caused by a virus he received in 2021, has been pounding an extra 10,000 times per day. Half of his siblings have the same illness, as does his father, who died at the age of 54 when Scot was 16 years old.
“That was an immediate wake-up call,” Pollard stated in a recent phone interview. “You don’t see many old (7-)footers strolling around. So I’ve known that my entire life, since that was etched into my brain as a 16-year-old: yeah, being tall is nice, but I won’t live to be 80.”
Pollard, a 1997 first-round draft pick who helped Kansas reach the NCAA Sweet 16 four straight seasons, was a productive big man off the bench for much of his 11-year NBA career, which spanned five teams. He played 55 seconds in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2007 NBA Finals appearance and won it all the next year with the Celtics despite a season-ending ankle injury in February.
Pollard retired after the season and later dabbled in television and acting. He competed in the 32nd season of “Survivor,” where he was eliminated on Day 27 with eight castaways remaining.
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