2008 Woodie Awards
Former Mets player, cancer survivor speaks at First Pitch dinner
Jason Bohanan
Issue date: 2/13/07 Section: Sports
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The toughest parts were still to come, however. In 1991, Hearn was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and focal segmental glomerululosclerosis, a condition that eventually caused kidney failure. The next year he received the first of three kidney transplants.
Hearn also faced multiple cases of skin cancer, one of which developed into an internal tumor that required surgery and six weeks of radiation therapy.
The medications and treatments took their toll. In 1993, Hearn contemplated suicide with a .357 magnum in his basement. Faith, family and perspective, what Hearn calls the "knots at the end of the rope", helped him hang on.
"God says he'll never give us anymore than we can handle," Hearn says.
"Perspective helps you understand a little better what's really important in life. I know one day I'll spend eternity in a place called heaven with my maker. That's perspective."
Hearn eventually received two more kidney transplants, with the third and final coming in May 2002.
Despite an assortment of medications and a monthly I.V. infusion designed to boost his immune system, Hearn still has struggles.
"I feel older than I am. On the average day I feel like I'm 65 physically," says Hearn, now 46.
"I haven't felt normal since I was a junior or senior in high school."
Although he admits there have been times he wished many of his trials never occurred, Hearn says that's no longer the case.
"He's not looking behind him, except maybe to count his blessings. He's looking ahead and I think we [the UTM baseball team] need to be like that," Cates says.
"I was destined to be more than just another professional athlete. God's plan, if you want to call it destiny, was for me to be more than a major league baseball player," Hearn says.
"It sure wasn't my game plan."
Hearn also faced multiple cases of skin cancer, one of which developed into an internal tumor that required surgery and six weeks of radiation therapy.
The medications and treatments took their toll. In 1993, Hearn contemplated suicide with a .357 magnum in his basement. Faith, family and perspective, what Hearn calls the "knots at the end of the rope", helped him hang on.
"God says he'll never give us anymore than we can handle," Hearn says.
"Perspective helps you understand a little better what's really important in life. I know one day I'll spend eternity in a place called heaven with my maker. That's perspective."
Hearn eventually received two more kidney transplants, with the third and final coming in May 2002.
Despite an assortment of medications and a monthly I.V. infusion designed to boost his immune system, Hearn still has struggles.
"I feel older than I am. On the average day I feel like I'm 65 physically," says Hearn, now 46.
"I haven't felt normal since I was a junior or senior in high school."
Although he admits there have been times he wished many of his trials never occurred, Hearn says that's no longer the case.
"He's not looking behind him, except maybe to count his blessings. He's looking ahead and I think we [the UTM baseball team] need to be like that," Cates says.
"I was destined to be more than just another professional athlete. God's plan, if you want to call it destiny, was for me to be more than a major league baseball player," Hearn says.
"It sure wasn't my game plan."
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