Life is Good for Murphey Coy
“Life is good.”
That’s the first sentence in Murphey Coy’s email signature. You could say it’s also the personal stamp on many things he touches these days.
Never mind the six-inch vertical scar near the center of his chest, or the weekly heart muscle biopsies he’ll undergo for a while, or the medication he’ll probably be taking the rest of his life to make sure his body doesn’t reject his heart.
Those aren’t even minor inconveniences to Murphey. They’re joyful reminders that life is, in fact, good.
Not too long ago—just about six weeks ago, actually—life wasn’t so good. The 20-year-old University of Kentucky sophomore was lying in a hospital bed, facing the prospect of his life ending far too soon.
Murphey’s heart was quickly failing. It had sustained him through years of playing lacrosse, and he excelled at the fast-paced, hard-charging sport, so much that early in his high school career he was recruited to play for one of the nation’s top university lacrosse teams.
In some ways, lacrosse may have saved his life. Because he was so physically active, signs of heart failure were more noticeable than they might have been if he lived a sedentary life. In fact, it was a during a lacrosse game that Murphey collapsed, spurring him to see a doctor the next day for what he thought was asthma or pneumonia. Murphey and his mom were stunned when an x-ray showed not a problem with his lungs, but an enlarged heart. He had idiopathic cardiomyopathy, possibly caused by a virus, although his doctors couldn’t be sure. The heart muscle was larger than normal because it had to work harder and harder to attempt to adequately pump oxygen-rich blood to Murphey’s muscles and vital organs. However, because Murphey was young—only 18 at the time—his doctors thought time might be on his side.
What they didn’t realize was just how quickly the clock was ticking.
With a lacrosse scholarship out of the picture, Murphey looked for a university where he could focus on academics. His mother was a UK graduate, and he was impressed with the faculty, the network of student support services, particularly the disability resource center, and the medical care so close to campus. A friend of Murphey’s family was UK pediatric cardiologist Dr. Jacqueline Noonan, who referred him to Dr. Tim Bricker, director of Kentucky Children’s Hospital. Under their watchful eyes, and eventually those of Linda and Jack Gill Heart Institute cardiologists Dr. David Booth and Dr. Jorge Alegria, Murphey lived a relatively normal college student life for a little more than two years. He took a full load of classes, focusing on biology, made friends and joined a fraternity, Phi Delta Gamma.
Then, 27 months after his diagnosis, it became apparent that time was running out for the once-vibrant young man. During Thanksgiving break, his health took a turn for the worse. Doctors prescribed medication to help his swollen legs, feet and hands, a sign that his heart was failing. Breathing started to become a bit more difficult, and he tired more easily. The next few months were a rollercoaster of good days followed by hospital stays. On Wednesday, March 4, 2009, Murphey was again admitted to the hospital and met with transplant surgeon Dr. Mark Bonnell. By Friday afternoon, Murphey’s name was listed among the most critical transplant needs. Less than 24 hours later, record time for a heart transplant at UK, Murphey had a heart donor—another 20-year-old male with the same blood type. With his parents by his side, Murphey prepared for surgery. His last words before going under anesthesia were of gratitude for the person whose heart he was about to receive. That night, Bonnell removed Murphey’s ailing heart and watched a healthy one spring to life in his chest.
Pausing for a moment in a hallway at the Gill Heart Institute recently, Bonnell’s voice broke and tears rimmed his eyes when he recalled that moment. “This job is more than about the science of it all. It’s about the humanity. At that moment, on that table, two worlds meet. On the one hand, you know there is a family that has just suffered a terrible tragedy. On the other hand is this young man who is about to receive a new opportunity to live,” Bonnell said. “This is why I get up in the morning. I look at Murphey and know this is why I went to medical school.”
Murphey’s recovery has gone remarkably well, with no sign of rejection, a complication that occurs in some patients when their bodies mistakenly attack the donor tissue. His hospital stay was remarkably short—8 days as opposed to the many weeks or even months expected after transplant. He returns to the Gill Heart Institute weekly for heart muscle biopsies, which are done in the cardiac cath lab via a catheter inserted through a small incision in his neck. Doctors feed a tiny probe through the catheter to his heart muscle and take a tiny sample of tissue to study for signs of rejection. He’ll have to continue to have regular exams and take anti-rejection medication, but Murphey’s whole-heartedly embracing all aspects of his new life.
His energy abounds. For Murphey, stairs are meant to be taken two at a time, and every day, he puts in two miles on his elliptical exercise machine. Most of all, he’s dedicated to raising awareness about heart disease and has formed a team to raise money for the upcoming American Heart Association Central Kentucky Heart Walk. Murphey will participate in the walk April 25 at Commonwealth Stadium and has assembled “Team Bonnell” to raise money in honor of his transplant surgeon. So far, Murphey and his fraternity brothers and other friends have raised more than $5,000. And Murphey is determined to participate in the 2010 Transplant Olympics in Madison, Wisconsin.
Murphey may help in other ways as well. Because little is known about the causes of heart disease like the kind of unexplained heart failure that affected Murphey, Bonnell plans to help study Murphey’s heart at the recently-formed Center for Muscle Biology, which is headed by researchers Michael Reid and Charlotte Peterson.
“I think about my donor every day,” Murphey said. “I wonder what he was like, and I want to live my life to make his family as proud as possible. I’m really thankful, and I want to honor the gift I was given.”
