KSHB: KU Student, Singer Gets a Second Chance at Life

In a matter of weeks, KU student Darius Sheppard went from singing on stage to being too sick to stand up. 

After experiencing chest tightness and flu-like symptoms, he learned he had cardiomyopathy and a severely enlarged heart.

"The doctors said they didn't know how I was surviving with the heart as big as it was," Darius said. "It was barely pulsing."

Darius was placed high on the transplant list and received a new heart just 10 days later. 

"The stars were just aligned," said Dr. Bethany Austin, Co-Medical Director of the Advanced Heart Failure Program at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute. "It was one of those cases where you feel like had it happened any differently, you don't know if the outcome would be as good."

Watch KSHB's full story below.

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