We all strive for a passionate pursuit in life, and there are only a precious few of us who are lucky to find a career that allows us to pursue said passions. Fortune has struck Simon Keith twice in that respect — first, as a world-class soccer star and now as an advocate for increasing organ, eye and tissue donation and registration. As chief operating officer of Nevada Donor Network (NDN), Keith has propelled what would have been a personal tragedy into a lifelong mission of helping others.
Keith, already a competitive soccer player, was 21 years old when he was diagnosed with myocarditis, an aggressive virus that can result in sudden cardiac arrest. Without a heart transplant, doctors told him he had just six months to live. Luckily, Keith received news that would ultimately save his life — a donor had become available, the heart of a 17-year-old boy from the United Kingdom who, fatefully, passed away while playing soccer. One year after his heart transplant operation, Keith returned to the game he loved, playing for UNLV. Keith was then drafted first overall into the Major Indoor Soccer League, just three years after his surgery, becoming the first athlete in the world to play a professional sport after receiving a new heart.
Many years later, Keith’s unique perspective as a donor recipient landed him on Nevada Donor Network’s doorstep. After joining the organization’s board of directors, he soon discovered that he could play a bigger role in increasing organ, eye and tissue donation in the state of Nevada by taking on the role of COO. Keith has been largely responsible for the change in culture at NDN, and after his move inside the organization, he oversaw dramatic growth in all areas including the doubling of organ donors, tissue donors, staff and more. He worked tirelessly to move the OPO from the cusp of being de-certified to its current state as an innovative, professional, accountable world leading organization. Recently, Keith led NDN through the very complicated financial structure of Nevada’s New Market Tax Credit transaction, which is designed to increase the flow of capital to businesses and low income communities by providing a modest tax incentive to private investors. Thanks to the credit, the organization can make an investment in its future and spur expansion of its campus.
If his work with Nevada Donor Network weren’t enough of an outlet for his passion to increase awareness of organ and tissue donation, Keith also started The Simon Keith Foundation, an organization that provides financial support to children who desire a return to an active and healthy lifestyle after undergoing a life-saving transplant. The Foundation has enjoyed its own success stories, including assisting an 8-year-old local boy, who had received a heart transplant at the age of 1, return to play competitive soccer.
While turning 50 is a milestone for most adults, Keith’s birthday in 2015 held in even more significance as he celebrated being one of the longest living heart transplant recipients in the world. Decades ago, the life expectancy of a heart transplant recipient was seven years. Not only does his personal commitment to maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle relay the importance of doing so, Keith is also a testament to the need for more advances in heart transplant technology to help prolong the lives of future recipients.
In honor of this historic achievement, the Clark County Commission declared May 26 Simon Keith Day.
Keith’s life is one for the history books. This was never more true than when ESPN Network’s E:60 series came calling. Airing in late 2015, the weekly investigative journalism newsmagazine show selected Keith as one of its feature profiles, providing insight into his life in and upbringing in his native Victoria, British Columbia, his on-field accomplishments, the triumph after a life-saving heart transplant, as well as capturing a moving, heartfelt meeting between Keith and the family of his heroic teenage donor. Inclusion in the series was not only one of many crowning achievements in Keith’s life, but also provided him with an invaluable platform to reach millions, and share his passion for the importance of organ and tissue donation.