SKATEBOARDER: 70-year-old Advanced Heart Failure Patient

"You didn't quit skateboarding because you got old. You got old because you quit skateboarding."

Quote from my friend, Jay Adams (R.I.P.)
Runtime: 2m 05s

This past December, I reached one of my lifetime milestones in skateboarding by turning 70-years-old while still continuing to skate on a regular basis, which I've been doing since age 11. This semi-recent footage was taken 3 weeks before my 70th birthday. Skateboarding hasn't been around very long historically, so we really don't know yet age-wise, how long you can legitimately continue to be a skateboarder.

Early last year I ran into a few obstacles, namely my heart started beating out-of-sync, with an incorrect electric firing pattern, due to a rogue gene that I inherited. Deadly stuff. After a "Cardioversion" procedure "shocked" my heart back into correct sync, it only held for a week before it reverted back to improper firing once again. I have a team of 4 excellent cardiologists at Queen's Heart in Honolulu who have made this past year not only bearable, but are responsible for me feeling exceptionally well the vast majority of the time. They've not only given me the green light to continue skateboarding but have actually encouraged it, although with a stern warning about the dangers of impacts or crashes while being on blood thinners. Currently I'm scheduled for the implanting of a Pacemaker/Defibrillator sometime later this summer. I'm stoked cuz that will stabilize my heart rate and bring the electro-physics closer to proper alignment. I'll be looking forward to skating more often and should also be able to get safely back into the ocean again. Bruce Walker

Camera: Lacey Anne Scott
HD Video Capture, upscaled to 4K.

BRUCE WALKER FILMS

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