Local Heart Transplant Survivor Enjoys Thrill Of A Lifetime

Nicole Ludwig never thought she'd live to see the day when she'd be the guest of honor at a NASCAR race, hanging out with her favorite drivers and enjoying the best seat in the house.

A year after a life-saving heart transplant, she was waving the green flag to send NASCAR's elite drivers into a full-throttle fight to the finish at Sonoma Raceway.

The 43-year-old Danville resident was selected by Save Mart Supermarkets to represent the BEAT campaign (www.savemart.com/beat), a year-long initiative with the goal of raising more than $400,000 for the American Heart Association.

"I'm totally into cars. I'm such a gearhead," she said. "I can't believe it took a heart transplant to get onto the NASCAR stage.

"NASCAR put on a top-notch show. I was treated like royalty. I loved it."

Ludwig talks about the weekend with all the enthusiasm of a lottery jackpot winner. She's found another passion through all her trials as a volunteer with the American Heart Association. She regularly speaks to groups of women about heart health.

"Every time I do something for them, it's exciting," she said. "I ws never a public speaker, but there were 350 women last time I spoke. If I can help one woman to see the signs of a heart problem, then that's good."

Ludgwig's own health problems became apparent at age 26 when she started to suffer heart problems. There is a history of heart problems in her family an "exciting" lifestyle didn't exactly help. She was diagnosed with an enlarged heart and placed on medications.

Ludwig knew she needed to make 180-degree change in lifestyle — exercise, nutrition, etc. — if she was going to survive. After a few years, doctors said her heart was actually shrinking closer to a normal size and decided it was safe to take her off the medicine.

Everything seemed fine — Ludwig was even walking half-marathons — until one afternoon three years ago when she was hiking on Mount Diablo with her daughter. Ludwig started to feel weak and faint. Her enlarged heart condition was back.

"The next year was tough. I could barely take care of my family," Ludwig said. "I had heart surgery, but that went bad. I spent 132 days in the hospital. Doctors intubated and shocked me. My organs were failing."

Ludwig was eventually sent to Stanford Medical Center where doctors implanted a mechanical pump called a left ventricular-assist device, often used a stop-gap for patients with chronic and severe heart problems.

"I've been thriving since the heart transplant," said Ludwig, who spent 25 days on a transplant list before surgery in February 2012. "I've always lived life to the fullest, but now it's amplified."

And now the excitement in her life has reached new heights with NASCAR racing.

"Going up into the eagle's nest to wave the flag, with two guys who have been doing this for 20 years, that was really cool."