SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Shane Vanderloo of Sioux Falls worked as a paramedic and is a former member of Avera’s Careflight team. During his career, he helped save countless lives. He is now in Omaha fighting for his own life and waiting for a new heart.

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Vanderloo has been at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for three weeks, waiting for doctors to find him a new heart. He says waiting for a transplant is… well not for the faint of heart. Doctors have determined that Shane’s heart is just about done.

You might remember our KELOLAND story from 2023 when Shane survived thanks to two men who just happened to drive by right after he collapsed on the baseball field in Renner. He was a coach and groundskeeper at the time. We were there as he later thanked them for saving his life. Right now in Omaha, his heart is being mechanically assisted. While he waits for a transplant, looking ahead to the major surgery is daunting.”I’m having a lot of chest pains still, and the rhythms aren’t good and this is just pre-game. So I still have to have the surgery yet. That’s just a darn bummer you can’t, it’s hard to fight through it it really is,” said Shane.His wife Tonia is by his side in the Intensive Care Unit of the transplant center.”He wants to be strong and be the tough guy I know deep down inside he’s pretty worried, but we keep it positive,” said Tonia. Shane says what people may not understand about transplants is, it’s not just the surgery.

“This whole process, it’s more a mind game than a physical game in my opinion. You got to keep your mind positive,” said Shane.

Even though he doesn’t feel well and there is considerable pain from the pump in his heart, Shane goes for short walks to keep up his strength with one goal in mind.

“I’m hoping to do well. And get out of here in a few weeks and get back home,” said Shane.

Medical bills are piling up. There is a GoFundMe called Shane’s Heart Journey