Erik Compton Foundation Donates US$25,000 To Mayo Clinic Transplant Center
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2018-09-19
By WEB.COM TOUR
ATLANTIC BEACH, Florida — Two-time heart transplant recipient and current Web.com Tour member Erik Compton donated US$25,000 to the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center through his foundation. Dr. Si M. Pham, the doctor who performed the second transplant, was on hand to accept the donation from the Erik Compton Foundation.
"Dr. Pham is not only one of the top heart surgeons in the country but also an outstanding person who is dedicated to bettering lives,” Compton said. “Through his life's work and research Dr. Pham continues to advance the field of organ transplantation and the lives of patience around the country. Because I live it, I'm reminded of it every day, and am honored to support his research as well as represent the transplant community every day on the golf course."
Based out of Jacksonville, Florida, Dr. Pham has worked in cardiovascular surgery since the 1990s and completed Compton’s surgery in 2008. The Florida campus of the Mayo Clinic has completed more than 6,000 solid organ transplants, including more than 300 heart transplants.
“Erik Compton is a remarkable person, and it’s tremendously gratifying for me to see him in good health, pursuing his dreams,” Dr. Pham said. “With his support, our heart transplant research program can better pursue our dream of improving heart transplantation and developing new treatments that repair heart muscle and give people new options and hopes.”
Compton received his first heart transplant in 1992 at the age of 12 and received a second heart transplant in 2008. He has competed on both the PGA TOUR and the Web.com Tour throughout his career and finished as runner-up at the 2014 U.S. Open.
The Erik Compton Foundation is dedicated to increasing awareness and advocacy of organ donation by supporting medical based research, increasing donor education and the development of youth support programs. The Foundation has also incorporated youth support programs, especially those that promote golf or its values like The First Tee, as part of its mission to give back to the inspiring community that saw Compton through his two transplants.
Compton is competing this week at the Web.com Tour Championship in Atlantic Beach, Florida, with a goal of earning a return to the PGA TOUR for the 2018-19 season. The Web.com Tour Championship is the last event of the Web.com Tour Finals, a four-event series that awards 25 PGA TOUR cards to the top-25 finishers on the money list.