BOISE, Idaho — Chet Beebe's life got off to a challenging start when, at just two weeks old, he had to have open heart surgery.
He was born with what he calls a single ventricle heart defect, which essentially means one ventricle wasn't working.
He just wanted to be a kid; He loved recess and playing touch football.
"I was as active as a normal kid would be like, but not what the doctors wanted me to be," said Beebe, now 29 years old. "So I had to have seven pacemakers throughout 11 years, the first 11 years of my life."
But the heart condition finally caught up with the kid who loved to run: the only option was a transplant.
"Obviously it was intense," he said. "My parents were crying and my sister."
He received a donated heart at 11 years old in 2001, and says the improvement was immediate.
"I remember waking up and I saw my toes and they were pink, and they hadn't been pink in a long time because of poor blood circulation," Beebe said. "I was always kind of purple."
His thoughts quickly turned to sports.
"The doctor goes 'well why did you get the transplant in the first place?' I was like, 'well, so I could play tackle football.' And he goes, 'I don't see why not,'" Beebe said.
So he went on to play football, basketball and baseball in high school in Idaho City.
Now, as a 29-year-old husband and father living in Boise, his love of sports has not waned.
"It sounds funny, but I'm going to be in two kickball leagues starting in June," Beebe said, adding that he plays flag football in a league and basketball whenever someone invites him.
He also took part in something much bigger than rec league sports and pick-up games. He competed in the last two Transplant Games of America, in Cleveland in 2016 and Salt Lake City in 2018.
He has won six medals total in basketball and track, including a gold in basketball at the Cleveland games.
Of course, the games are about competition, but Beebe says they're also a kind of therapy. It's a chance for transplant recipients to bond with others who understand them.
"There's the sad side where you hear the stories about why someone else is there, but at the same time it's happy because they're here," he said.
Beebe's quest to compete and stay active goes much deeper than a love of sports; it goes chest deep.
"They didn't tell us everything, but they were able to tell us that it was a little girl that had passed away," Beebe said of the person who donated their heart to him.
Eighteen years later, that little girl's gift is often in his thoughts as he appreciates what he has.
"Without receiving this heart I wouldn't have been able to get married, I wouldn't have been able to have a daughter, play all the sports I like playing." Beebe said. "I can't do anything but live the best way I can to honor her, essentially is how I look at it. I mean that's why I do everything I can."
It has become his life philosophy.
"Just keep playing. Just have fun with it," he said. "It almost stopped for me when I was 11. So yeah, just keep playing."
And that's exactly what he's going to do. Beebe plans to compete in the 2020 Transplant Games of America in New Jersey. He will once again be part of the Utah-Idaho team, competing in basketball and several track events.
DONATE LIFE MONTH
April is National Donate Life Month. KTVB is once again partnering with Yes Idaho to raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation. The group says about 114,000 people are on the waiting list for an organ transplant.
Each week this month we'll share a story of someone who has either received or given the gift of life.
If you'd like more information on being a living donor or about organ, eye and tissue donation, check out Yes Idaho's website, where you can also get more information about the first ever Dash for Donation fun run to raise awareness about organ donation.
The 5K dash and 2K walk is coming up the morning of April 27 at Julius M. Kleiner Park in Meridian. Kids, strollers and even dogs are welcome.