Al Melanson gets heart transplant

Lynn Jets hockey coach Al Melanson is rapidly securing his spot as comeback player of the year.After a near-fatal heart attack in February that was followed by months of being kept alive by a heart pump, Melanson got the call last week that a donor heart had become available. The retired state trooper underwent eight-hour transplant surgery last Tuesday, and if all goes well, he could be back home as early as next week.”I feel absolutely fantastic,” Melanson said in a telephone interview from his hospital bed on Monday. “I couldn’t feel any better.”Melanson was extremely grateful to the heart donor and the donor’s family, although he didn’t go into much detail out of respect for their privacy.”How do you say thank you to someone who just gave you life?” Melanson said. “The donor is the real hero.”Melanson said the donor in this case saved several lives with the donation of various organs.”It’s so important that there are individuals out there who are willing to make this sort of sacrifice to be able to have other people enjoy more years in their lives,” he said.Melanson said he got the call that a heart had become available around 6 p.m. last Monday night and was told to be in Boston by 7:30 p.m. The transplant was performed Tuesday morning (June 17).Melanson said when he arrived at the hospital he was put in the intensive care unit.”The pump that I had, I would have sworn the thing was going to jump out of my chest. I was never so nervous in my life,” he said.After spending weeks at Maine Medical Center following his initial heart attack, Melanson was finally allowed to return to Massachusetts. He went to a rehabilitation hospital in Cambridge, where he remained until April 29. He continued physical therapy once he returned home and he believes his hard work in getting some of his strength back before the transplant surgery has made his recovery go more smoothly. Melanson said he had worked his way up to walking about two miles a day along the beach (with his wife, Nancy) before the transplant surgery.Melanson will still have his work cut out when he gets home, but he’s already looking forward to hockey season.”I’m working my butt off. You guys (his hockey players) have to work your butts off, too. I think the team could be in really good shape,” he said.Melanson said has received tremendous support throughout the ordeal from many friends, people he worked with during his years as a state trooper, his neighbors, fellow coaches, his hockey players and, of course, his family.”Everybody has been there for me,” he said, adding that the whole experience has been life-changing.”It gives you a completely new perspective on things,” he said.