JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Terry Collier has logged more than 3,000 miles as a marathon runner, but one day after being short of breath he learned his heart was dying.
“[My family] admitted me to the hospital, [doctor's] said I had a heart attack," Collier recalled, "No signs no symptoms or nothing.”
Collier carried the Olympic torch in 1996 through the streets of Los Angeles. He served as director for marathons in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and organized charity events while working full-time.
At the hospital in 2018, doctors told him he would need a new heart.
“Like a plant that died and you try to water it no matter what we do to try to put blood back in it it’s not going to work," Collier said.
He went through treatment in Atlanta before coming to the First Coast and Mayo Clinic in 2019. It’s where on the third try for a heart transplant, he was given new life.
“My new heart, I call it my buddy, we are going to carry the torch a long time," Collier said.
The surgery and aftermath kept him in the hospital during the coronavirus pandemic 180 days and nights. This was a different kind of marathon to recover.
“I had an affirmation poster in my room that said if it’s to be it’s up to me,” Collier said.
The mantra from his days running and finding the inner strength to push mile after mile.
While he continues to improve, he has one more run that he plans to complete. Next time with a new heart in his chest.
“Today I’m still committed to running the south rim of the Grand Canyon and next year this time I want to be able to say I did it,” Collier said.
Collier hopes to meet the family of the heart donor and thank them.
"The life that I have today is because of you," he said, "Me and my new heart, I call it my buddy, are going to carry the torch; I want to thank you for giving me life.”