The Globe and Mail Business
Simon Keith at the The Heart of Gold Gala and Concert at the Victoria Conference Centre B.C., on Aug. 23.
The organizer: Simon Keith
The pitch: Raising more than $3-million
The cause: Programs to help transplant recipients
Simon Keith spent more than 20 years without speaking to the family that saved his life.
Mr. Keith was a promising young soccer player in Victoria in the early 1980s when he was diagnosed with viral myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. He underwent a heart transplant in 1986 in Britain, where he also held citizenship.
He was 21 years old, and managed to resume his playing career after the transplant. He spent a couple of seasons at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and was selected first overall in the 1989 draft of the Major Indoor Soccer League.
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