BATON ROUGE - Former Baton Rouge Fire Chief Edwin Smith worked over forty years helping save lives.

But over the last five years, he found something helping save him after having a heart attack: pickleball.

In 2018, Smith experienced a cardiac emergency and was rushed to the emergency room where he was told that his liver had stopped functioning, and his kidneys and heart were working at less than 10%.

He was transferred to Ochsner where doctors implanted him with a first-of-its-kind heart pump called a left ventricular assist device that restored Smith's life.

After gaining back his strength and mobility, he picked up pickleball to stay healthy

Smith and his friend eventually won gold in Men’s Doubles ages 65-69 at the 2022 Louisiana Senior Games.   

He's now training to participate in the 2024 Louisiana Senior Games on Oct. 4-6. After that, he is hoping to qualify for the national finals in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"This computer runs the pump that runs my heart. So when you are on this it's basically a life-changing event. I went through some difficult times and fortunately, through some mutual friends, I discovered pickleball. It really gave me an extension to do things and have a focus and set goals for things," Smith said. "It's really been a great joy to experience this over the last few years."