RALPH CORNWELL RECEIVED AN UNEXPECTED SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE

It’s been said that “life is what happens to us when we are busy making other plans.” 

For APEMAN Ralph Cornwell, that creed couldn’t be more accurate. 

“I had a heart transplant that came out of nowhere,” he said. “I thought I was very fit. I trained the night before my heart started to fail. I even insisted on mowing the lawn before I left for the hospital after feeling ill.”

The truth is that Dr. Cornwell is, in fact, very fit. He is an exercise physiologist and researcher who has spent more than 20 years as a strength and conditioning coach, consultant and lecturer. He has worked with high-school, collegiate and professional athletes – including those in the National Football League, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer—as well as women’s soccer and lacrosse players, NFL Europe athletes, European and Russian basketball players, and several international players from Africa and Australia.”

But this trip to the hospital would end up being vastly different than he – and everyone else – expected. 

He initially showed up to the hospital simply wanting a stronger acid reflux medicine. But he was rushed to the Yale Cardiac Unit after it was determined that his current heart was not able to support life any longer. 

“Because I was very fit with the exception of my heart, I was moved to the top of the national transplant list,” Ralph said. “This meant I was one of the sickest people but I also had a good chance of survival.”

Remarkably, Ralph got his heart in about 48 hours. 

“This is unheard of,” he said. “Some people wait for years. My wife, Claudia advocated for me to the transplant committee. She assured them, if I got a new heart, I could continue my research and most of all she told them, ‘He doesn't know how to quit.’ I would take all the medicine, adhere to a strict protocol of care.”

Amazingly, Ralph has a new heart and a new birthday; he is just about two-months old now. 

“I am so grateful for my second chance at life,” he said with a smile. “This is by far the most difficult thing I have faced in my life. It's tough but I take it one step at a time, one day at a time.”

The first day he woke up, Ralph asked for the physical therapist and asked him to get him up and out of bed so he could begin to learn how to walk again.

“I didn't want to die in this bed without fighting for a chance at life,” he said. “I took 25 steps and I was exhausted. But today I walked over a mile. I asked my wife to get me an APEMAN STRONG hoodie for inspiration. They're all forms of strong.” 

Ralph has made it his life’s mission to be healthier, a better person and try to do something positive in this world so everyone knows his heart was not donated in vain. 

Please stop by his website to see what he was working on before his old heart gave out. concussionpreventionprotocoll.com.