Walking the road to recovery: Transplant patient raises $10,000 for heart association

Forty-nine days after his heart transplant on March 7, Murphey Coy walked with his parents, his heart surgeon and more than 100 friends and supporters in the Central Kentucky Heart Walk.

More than 2,500 people participated in the walk on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium. The event was sponsored by the American Heart Association and UK Healthcare.

Coy and his team, “Team Bonnell” — named for Coy’s heart surgeon Dr. Mark Bonnell — raised more than $10,000 for the event by selling 185 T-shirts. Brothers Colin and Matt Dempsey, who are Phi Gamma Delta fraternity brothers with Coy, designed the shirts.“Not many of the brothers could visit Murphey in the hospital (after his heart transplant) because he was in the Intensive Care Unit,” said management and Spanish sophomore Colin Dempsey. “We were looking for a way to support him while he recovers.”

Taylor Moore, a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, designed buckets that read, “a change of heart,” and Coy delivered them to sorority houses on campus to collect extra change to donate to the heart walk as well.

Coy — who received his transplant after suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure — said he walked every day to prepare for the heart walk. He has an elliptical exercise machine in his apartment and he walked at the Arboretum with his father, Ed.

“It was Dr. Bonnell who brought this idea to me,” Coy said. “And I can’t think of a better way to give back.”

Since his surgery, Coy has undergone four biopsies, a procedure where doctors put a catheter into the heart to check for elements of the body’s rejection of the organ. He has showed no signs of rejection.

Right now, he still requires 24-hour care, which his parents take turns providing. When he goes outside or goes to class — the entomology sophomore is still enrolled in and regularly going to one class — he has to wear a mask over his face to protect him from bacteria and possible infection.

Coy wore a mask and plastic gloves during the walk.

The American Heart Association aimed to raise $281,784 at the Central Kentucky Heart Walk. In the days just before the walk, the event had raised $175,001. A representative from the heart association said they hadn’t yet calculated the total donations.

Coy said he plans to continue working with the American Heart Association as part of his goal to give back and to take full advantage of his heart and his new chance at life.

“I’ve always been a happy person, but since my surgery I’ve just been on cloud nine,” he said on April 7, one month after his transplant. “I can’t do it justice with words how I feel.”

Dempsey said Coy’s family and friends will be there to support him.

“Murphey has always been a fighter. There were 40 people in the waiting room of the hospital when he woke up. I think that was a huge part of his recovery,” Dempsey said. “Everyone who knows him has been inspired by Murphey and this is our way to show that.”