(WHTM) — A Midstate man is getting ready to head out Friday to a global athletic competition, not in Paris, but in Birmingham, Alabama.

This athlete is not like the others.

“There is something very different about me,” Carl Rohr said. “I’m a heart transplant recipient.”

Rohr, who is from Hershey, was just 34 and a governor worker. He would park at a garage just three blocks away, but that became difficult.

“Just getting from the parking garage to my building or walking up a flight of stairs was impossible,” Rohr said. Soon, almost everything was “impossible.”

“I had what’s called end-stage congestive heart failure,” Rohr said, who was hospitalized. As bad as that sounds, he did eventually hear some good news.

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“On a Sunday morning, bright and early, my transplant coordinator came in to share the news,” he said. Later that day a new heart, and then he was quickly feeling better than he had in years.

“It was phenomenal,” Rohr said. “I felt this drum when it was quiet and I’m like, ‘God. This really happened.'”

Less than a year after that, Rohr competed in his first transplant games, which was “1998 Ohio State University,” he said.

“Really celebrating that he has this second chance at life,” Dwendy Johnson from Gift of Life said. “They just come together, from all over the United States to Birmingham, Alabama this year to, really celebrate, life saving power of organ and tissue donation.”

It is every two years.

We ended up meeting Rohr while he was practicing for the 1500-meter race walk. He also competes in a softball throw, volleyball and pickleball.

“And the big thing about being at the games is that you honor your donor families first,” Rohr said. The family of Rohr’s donor goes to the games.

“This year, our transplant games are aligning with our 50th, year of saving lives at Gift of Life,” Johnson said.

“And they’re shooting for 50,000, people to sign up to be a donor,” Rohr said. “We’re there to be a part of something bigger than ourselves and spread the word. And it’s – it’s just a big celebration of life.”

If you are interested in becoming a donor, head to Gift of Life’s website .

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