Professional roper riding on the wings of a heart transplant

Ryan Rochlitz took long, loping cowboy strides toward the stable at the National Western Complex. With one arm, he tugged the reins of a burgundy-colored pony named Dragon. He toted a looped lasso over the other. The 30-year-old from Cheyenne looked no different than the 150 other ropers vying for spots in the National Western Stock Show, Rodeo & Horse Show, which begins Saturday. His gear, however, includes something no one in pro rodeo has had before: another person's heart. Rochlitz is believed to be one of only two athletes to compete professionally after a heart transplant, according to the Donor Alliance, which promotes and coordinates organ donations nationwide. The other is PGA golfer Erik Compton, who has had two heart transplants. Rochlitz counts himself lucky: Two of every 100,000 athletes between the ages of 12 and 35 die from heart ailments each year, according to a 2004 report of the International Olympic Committee. In 1997, Rochlitz was within two weeks of dying, he said, when the call came that there was a donor's heart — taken from a Denver 23-year-old killed in a motorcycle accident...read more