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By Kayla DeKraker
Olympic champion and professional snowboarder Shaun White took a moment to recognize a very special person: the heart surgeon who “saved” his life.
“This man saved my life!” he posted under a photo of himself with surgeon Dr. John Lamberti.
White continued, “It was an incredible surprise to run into Dr. John Lamberti, the Surgeon who performed my two heart surgeries when I was 6 months old! It’s wild to reconnect after all this time. Incredible to think of the impact this man has had overtime saving so many lives. So hyped you didn’t call in sick that day haha. Love you man, thank you for this beautiful life.”
Related: Olympian Shaun White Describes ‘Honor’ of Representing United States
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“I wonder if he smiled extra hard when he saw you making history as you did,” one fan commented. “This man didn’t know it at the time, but he would indirectly change millions of people’s lives by just saving one.”
Another added, “This guy single-handedly gave me the ability to watch one of my biggest inspirations.”
White was born with a serious and rare congenital heart condition called tetralogy of Fallot. A baby born with the condition has four different heart problems that affect the heart’s structure, and the Mayo Clinic said it “causes altered blood flow through the heart and to the rest of the body. Babies with tetralogy of Fallot often have blue or gray skin color due to low oxygen levels.”
“It [congenital heart disease] was a big part of my life when I was a lot younger,” White said previously. “I was told I couldn’t do certain things, but honestly my parents let me find my own boundaries, and of course, I just wanted to fly. I wanted to be in the air.”
White defied all odds and became an Olympic champion. He has won multiple gold medals in snowboarding, notably for his half pipe. He took home gold in that event in Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010 and PyeongChang 2018, the Olympics said.
“Something about having this experience at a young age really put a fight in me,” the athlete said of how his heart condition impacts his life today. “I was always driven. Through snowboarding and these sports, I actually got to excel and focus all that energy.”
White’s encounter with his heart surgeon is a powerful reminder that we never know whose lives we impact.
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