Patrick Brett’s life has always been all about sports. Despite being born with a congenital heart condition that required three surgeries before he was 9, he played soccer, basketball and baseball and hoped to play for his beloved Phillies one day.
That all came to a halt when Patrick passed out on the basketball court at 13 and woke up in the hospital. Diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia, he could no longer play sports. On his 14th birthday, he received an automatic internal cardiac defibrillator and pacemaker implants. Patrick did not give up his love of sports, though. He turned to coaching, managing teams in high school and college, and today serves as a guidance counselor and assistant baseball coach at North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, while he and his wife are actively involved in the burgeoning athletic careers of their three children.
Unfortunately, in 2019, unexpected medical complications from a non-cardiac surgery led to heart and liver failure for Patrick. He spent seven months in the hospital waiting for a transplant. Finally, in 2021, Patrick received the news that he was getting a second chance.
“After waiting over six months for the phone call, I woke up with a new heart and liver, came home, and I’ve been living this life, doing things that I’ve never been able to do,” he said.
Today, Patrick roots for his kids as they play the sports he could not. Patrick and his wife, Lauren, also are working to bring awareness to organ donation. That includes holding an annual fundraiser, Dingers for Organ Donation. The home-run derby combines two of Patrick’s passions – baseball and organ donation awareness.
“Bringing awareness to organ donation any way we possibly can is extremely crucial to saving people’s lives and giving people a second chance at life,” he said. “The best way to leave your legacy is to save someone else’s life.”