Rob Nutter feels fortunate with every step he takes… everything he does is looked upon as a bonus by the Robson resident.
Nutter is in possession of an aftermarket heart and kidney and he’s approaching the one-year anniversary of the surgical odyssey that has literally given him a new lease on life.
A dangerous virus had wreaked havoc with Nutter’s heart, and over the course of 18 years had done such extensive damage that a mechanical organ was employed to keep the Castlegar area citizen alive. Heart trouble had adversely affected the kidneys… leading to the major transplant effort.
The mechanical heart was effective, but cumbersome given the outboard power pack and computer required, and if it were to present problems Nutter, himself, was the one to quickly get it right again… talk about stressful!
Those days are thankfully a memory, as Nutter appears to be the very picture of health.
He’s got a special event coming up at Cartwright’s Pub on Columbia Ave. across from the Husky station – his way of thanking the community… and more.
“It’s sort of a way of paying back the people who helped me… by helping others coming up behind me… going through the same problems,” said Nutter. “The program I’m helping… my family got to use when I went in for a transplant.”
Nutter, an avid outdoorsman, had one thought when he had regained consciousness following his marathon medical ordeal.
“Grouse Grind,” he uttered from his hospital bed the first moment he was able. He had conquered the popular North Vancouver challenge before and was eager to accomplish it again.
“On June 14 I’m hiking up the Grouse Grind with the surgeon who did the operation, and transplant nurses are coming along, he related on May 6, “...it’s pretty cool!”
Nutter is hoping for a good turnout at the Cartwright’s fundraising event which kicks off this Saturday at 5 p.m.