he needed to perform open-heart surgery to remove the growth from the valve.
“I was in complete shock,” Kenneth says. “But I also understood it was needed and I just had to rely on my faith to keep me strong.”
Removing the growth required the surgeon to crack Kenneth’s sternum. Once the heart repair was done, the sternum was repaired with titanium plates.
Two Heart Surgeries and COVID-19 Before the Age of One: “It Was Trying Times”
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Kenneth’s journey back to football
Within two weeks, Kenneth was back home and focused on cardiac rehabilitation.
For several weeks, the muscular teen couldn’t lift anything over 5 pounds. He walked daily. He also did exercises with deep breaths to expand his lungs. Because of his renewed hopes of playing professional football, he knew he needed to push himself.
“I’d walk a few hundred feet and feel like I’d run 2 miles, breathing hard and dripping in sweat,” he adds.
Physical stamina was only part of Kenneth’s challenge. Doctors warned his parents that a more difficult obstacle is getting an 18-year-old to accept all he’s endured.
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“We tried to keep as positive as possible, but also realistic,” Shari shares. “There were a couple times we had to talk him off the ledge of despair, but we knew he was going to be able to play again if he was patient.”
In July 2018, Kenneth moved into his dorm at Kentucky. He continued his rehab there, assisted by coaches, trainers and doctors. In late July, he was able to start running with his teammates.
He sat out that fall. He played four games in 2019 but did not start. He started eight games in 2020, even though he’d broken his hand in training camp and needed surgery to repair it. He started every game this season, capped by a victory in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day.
What’s next for Kenneth?
He will graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in communications. He’s applying for a
