Lungs for Life

To Breathe is to live

Coach Kim Pace needs your help. Coach Pace, a volunteer football specialist coach at Wyoming Area, patiently waits for a phone call. Although, it can't come fast enough. Coach Pace needs a double lung transplant to save his life.

In the spring of 2015, what was thought to be an aortic aneurysm, or a heart attack turned out to be a false alarm. However, doctors discovered scarring in his lungs. The doctors at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore diagnosed Coach Pace with

Interstitial Pulmonary Fibrosis, which is irreversible and gets worse over time. The scarring associated with this disease affects breathing and getting enough oxygen into the bloodstream. Unfortunately, the disease has progressed to a point where a double lung transplant is needed to save his life.

Kim is a member of Wyoming Area's first football championship team of 1970 and graduated as a member of the Wyoming Area class of 1971. He was inducted into the Ring of Pride in 2018.

He began coaching at Wyoming Area in 2014 as a volunteer. Even as he waits for the most important phone call of his life and cannot do everyday tasks, he remains committed to coaching and helping the team. Kim, certified in specialized movement strength training, regularly coaches his players via video and telephone to prepare them for the upcoming season of 2022. Upon his recovery from his transplant surgery, Coach Pace will be back with the team as a volunteer, coaching kickers, punters, and long snappers for the 2022 football season.

In the past few years, his ability to breathe became more difficult. Causing him to miss on-the-field coaching, but he made himself available via video. He couldn’t let the players down.

Many people may not have noticed that Coach Pace wore a backpack and carried a bag over his shoulder while on the sidelines. The shoulder bag held the equipment necessary for the kickers, and the backpack held his oxygen tank with extra tanks on the sidelines. His face mask covered the tube supplying the oxygen. His lung condition worsened when it got to the point that walking off the field was difficult. However, he committed to the team that he would be there, and he was there. He wanted to be there.

This past September, it was determined that Coach Pace would need a lung transplant to survive; after testing to assess his ability to survive the transplant and the rigorous rehabilitation afterward, he was placed on the transplant list in January.

So, he and his family patiently wait for a phone call, a call that new lungs are available, and Coach Pace can get back to his life with his family and do the many things he loves—like coaching kickers and punters, and long snappers.

On-going medical costs have been overwhelming for the family, promising to get even more expensive for the Pace household during and after the lung transplant surgery.

They know this will be an expensive endeavor. Insurance covers much of the surgery cost, but there will be additional costs, including months of temporary relocation needed for rehabilitation.

The family is asking for your help to help cover some of the expenses. They would be grateful for any support you can offer.

To breathe is to live.