Ex-Raven’s heart went to Carew
Hall of Famer got transplant from tight end Reuland.
Baseball Hall of Famer Rod Carew received a new heart and kidney from the late NFL player Konrad Reuland in what is believed to be the first such transplant involving pro athletes.
Carew underwent the procedure in December and met Reuland’s family in March after mutual friends connected Reuland’s death with news of Carew’s transplant on Dec. 16. Reuland had died four days earlier after a ruptured brain aneurysm at age 29.
Reuland attended middle school in Southern California with Carew’s children, and he met Carew when he was 11.
“The whole thing is just unbelievable,” Carew told American Heart Association News. “I’ve been given a second chance so I’m going to take advantage of it, and I’ve got another family.”
Reuland, a tight end, played for the Jets and Ravens. He also spent time with the 49ers and Colts, who released him in August.
The only details the Carew family received before the transplant were that the donor was “male, late 20s, local, exceptionally healthy.”
The Reulands were told the recipient was a 71-year-old man from Orange County.
The two men’s blood type was the same, but the key factor was both were immune from Hepatitis B. No one ahead of Carew on the transplant list was immune.
Reuland’s parents, Ralf and Mary, and their youngest son Austin took turns listening through a stethoscope to Konrad’s heart beating inside Carew’s chest when they met the former baseball star and his wife Rhonda, according to the American Heart Association News.
“We are so thankful, so grateful, so there aren’t adequate words,” Rhonda Carew told the Reulands.
Last fall, Reuland was on a treadmill when he experienced a severe headache. The aneurysm, a ballooning in an artery in his brain, burst a few days later. He underwent surgery but never woke from a coma.
Blue Jays: Josh Donaldson was placed on the 10-day DL with a sore right calf. The third baseman, the 2015 AL MVP, is hitting .310 with two homers and four RBIs.
Padres: Catcher Hector Sanchez was reinstated from the seven-day concussion DL, and right-hander Kevin Quackenbush was recalled from Triple-A El Paso.
Cubs: Pitcher Brian Duensing was activated off of the 10-day DL, and pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. was placed on the bereavement list.
Indians: Forced to use infielder Michael Martinez as a pitcher in Thursday’s loss, Cleveland recalled righthander Nick Goody from Triple-A Columbus.
Athletics: Right-hander Sonny Gray (lat strain) threw two 15-pitch stints to batters Thursday and had no issues. Manager Bob Melvin said Gray will throw three innings Monday at extended spring training and could rejoin the rotation by the end of April.
Rockies: First baseman Ian Desmond, who broke his left hand during spring training, has started to play catch and take a few ground balls, manager Bud Black said. Desmond is with the team, but no timetable for his return has been set, Black said.
Dodgers: Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson will be the first to be honored with a statue at Dodger Stadium when the team unveils it today on the 70th anniversary of his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Giants: Four-time All-Star Madison Bumgarner (0-2) is off to his worst start of a season since the left-hander went 0-6 in his first eight starts in 2011.