Spring 2011
WCSA AlumNEWS Chuck Spohr’s heartfelt gratitude for gifts received
—by Matt Privratsky ’11, Walker
Chuck Spohr ’57 has always enjoyed life to the fullest. As a student at the West Central School of Agriculture, Spohr was very involved in the classroom and WCSA activities. He was the senior class president, homecoming king, and a member of the yearbook staff. He played on the basketball team and became the captain of the football team—even though the first football game he had ever seen was also the first one he played in at WCSA. After graduating from WCSA, Spohr enrolled in the first classes offered by the new University of Minnesota, Morris. Shortly thereafter, his father became ill, and Spohr went back to the farm to help. To this day, he still wishes he could have gone to college to get a degree, but he knows “it was best for the family.” Energetic and hard working, Spohr farmed until 1998. He and wife Liz moved into the city of Morris in 2001. In 2003, his life changed dramatically when he contracted an extremely rare virus that weakened his heart muscle. Because of the damage, his heart could not effectively circulate his blood. He had virtually no energy and would fall asleep in places like the dentist’s chair, the barber’s chair, and sometimes just standing up.
people in western Minnesota to be fitted with this type of medical heart pump, which he describes as “the same one Dick Cheney had.” But the pump, was not meant to be a permanent fix. Spohr needed a heart transplant. The pump did the work of his left ventrical to allow his body to recover and be prepared for surgery. The gift of a new heart In 2008, after five years of fighting the virus, dealing with its aftermath, and seven months of using the LVAD and wearing the battery pack, Spohr’s overall health improved, and he was placed at the top of the heart transplant list. He received a new heart in August. He spent a month recovering from the incredible surgery at the hospital and at his daughter’s home in Minneapolis, where he was close to the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Today, Spohr shares that he is better than ever. He’s getting his strength back, and he says, “It’s the best I have felt in my entire life!”
Life with a mechanical heart pump Even with medication and a pacemaker, Spohr’s health continued to deteriorate. After more than four years, a mechanical heart pump called a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) was surgically placed in Spohr’s abdomen to do the work of his left ventrical. The pump was plugged into an external battery and control system that he wore like a shoulder pack during the day and plugged in during the night. Spohr was one of the first page 1
From left: Chuck Spohr and Armand Aswege ’57 in a photo from their senior Moccasin (continued on page four)