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Law enforcement agencies around Troup County are rallying behind one of their own in order to help a local state trooper who recently underwent a heart transplant.

The agencies are partnering to host a brown bag BBQ fundraiser to benefit Trooper Blake Shiver on Oct. 4 at the Troup County Government Center. The sack lunch includes two barbeque sandwiches, chips and a brownie for $10.

All proceeds will help Shiver and his family with expenses as he recovers from his recent heart transplant.

Most of Shiver’s troubles with his heart began four years ago. He began to feel light-headed while helping contain the riots in Atlanta in 2020. He said he began experiencing symptoms but didn’t really take it as seriously as he should have. His symptoms began during the pandemic, further complicating things.

“All of a sudden, unless you have COVID symptoms, you couldn’t go to the hospitals,” Shiver said.

Shiver said he had also stopped working out for the first time in his life, causing him to get out of shape, which led him and his wife to attribute the symptoms to his poor conditioning.

On top of that, Shiver was also consuming way too many sports drinks which are full of salt.

“I was drinking lots and lots of Gatorade with all that salt and all that fluid, “ Shiver said.  “It just put too much fluid and salt in my heart, and my heart couldn’t pump.”

Shiver said his legs swelled a bit but the biggest sign was when he bent over, he felt like his head was going to pop.

Shiver said he eventually went to the doctor, for a separate issue, his hurt shoulder, and they did an MRI. The MRI didn’t pick up any issues for his shoulder but they did discover a bigger problem, fluid on his lungs. The doctors were able to drain two liters of fluid off his lungs but further testing revealed he was going into multiple organ failure due to his heart not pumping the way it should.

Doctors said at the time his heart was pumping at a 15 to 20 percent ejection fraction rate. Normal ejection fraction is 50 percent or higher. Then from June to July it dropped down to 10 percent.

“At that point, I was still patrolling. I was able to work, but I wasn’t able to work great. I could still pull someone out of a car if I had to,” Shiver said.

Shiver said he went back to the hospital after getting sick driving home one day. From there, things started to rapidly escalate and he soon learned he needed a new heart. Fortunately for Blake, once he was approved for the transplant a new heart came quickly. Doctors were able to find him a new heart in only three days.

“On Saturday, they told me I had a heart and they put it in Sunday night,” Shiver said.

Three days after the surgery, Shiver says he’s already feeling better, though things are slow these days. He’s not sure when he’ll be able to return to work.

“I feel a lot better. I still lost a lot of muscle with five weeks in a hospital bed. I lost a lot of muscle. My butt has got smaller and my stomach has got bigger,” he said.

Now Shiver has gone from a 10 percent ejection fraction to around 75 percent, which is well above normal.

Troup County Solicitor Sandra Taylor helped organize the barbeque fundraiser to help the Shiver family with hospital costs and other expenses until Blake is able to return to work. Taylor said all of the law enforcement agencies jumped to help the family when she called.

Tickets for the sack lunch are available for $10 each at the Troup County Sheriff’s Office, LaGrange Police Department, Hogansville Police Department, West Point Department, Troup County Marshal’s Office and Georgia State Patrol Post 2.

The sack lunches will be available for pickup at the Troup County Government Center Parking Deck on Oct. 4 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Free delivery is also available for large orders.