Everything worthwhile in Tim Fristoe’s life came close to never happening, he says.

His wife, the baby on the way, his successful career.

None of it would have come about, the 30-year old Post Falls man says, had he not nearly died 10 years ago.

“It changed me as a person, my outlook on life. I don’t take anything for granted any more,” Fristoe said, seated in a shadowed corner of the Post Falls Starbucks last week. “Really, as cliché as it sounds, every day I’m upright it’s a pretty good day.”

Fristoe just celebrated the 10th anniversary of the heart transplant he underwent at 20 years old, when his heart failed for reasons unknown.

Looking back, he identifies that as the catalyst for turning his life around.

“I was headed down a rough road (before the transplant). I wouldn’t have taken my job as seriously, I wouldn’t have

taken life as seriously,” Fristoe said. “I know there’s absolutely no way I’d be in the position I’m in had I not had the transplant 10 years ago.”

He still remembers how strange it felt that day a decade ago, during a bowling tournament in Las Vegas.

He could barely eat, he said, barely bowl.

“Basically I just collapsed,” he said.

He was flown to Kootenai Medical Center and eventually diagnosed with cardiovascular failure. He met with a transplant team and within a few days, had a new heart.

He also had a whole new perspective.

Then living in Hayden, he had been hanging with a party crowd, he said. He imagines now that if he had stayed that course it would have led to drugs and drinking.

“I could see me falling to peer pressure, the whole social thing, and it never happened,” he said.

Instead, he took advantage of his second chance.

Now in great health condition, he has met many personal and career goals, he said.

“The last 10 years have been amazing,” he said.

For instance, he finally bowled a 300 game two years ago. He volunteered to coach kids at Sunset Bowling Center in Coeur d’Alene, and he currently bowls in leagues in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls.

He fell in love with a woman at work and married her two years ago. Tim and Heather Fristoe recently bought their first home in Post Falls, and are now expecting a baby girl in December.

Fristoe has also remained with the same company, Silverwood Theme Park, the entire past decade.

He was working in the theme park’s game section before the transplant, he said. After working hard and staying loyal to the company, he is now operations assistant manager.

“The people who work there are amazing,” he said, adding that the Silverwood company has been very supportive throughout his health problems. “Some people give me a hard time, some people agree with me, but I’m really proud of the fact that my first job was at Silverwood and I’ve stuck with it and turned it into a career.”

The transplant linked him with lifelong friends, too, he said, all of them part of the hospital team that treated him.

His initial hospital stay lasted 30 days — during which he was also treated for gall bladder failure — and after the transplant he faced repeat blood tests and checkups at the hospital.

“Getting to know all the nurses, the doctors, the physical therapists, it almost gets to be like a family,” he said. “After awhile, I didn’t even notice the needles.”

His transplant coordinator, Paula Kaley, is like a second mother, he added.

She was among his calls for all the big news in his life — his wedding, the pregnancy — and he also calls her just for guidance.

“If something happens as far as work or life, I’ll give her a call,” he said. “I call her a lot. Twenty to 30 is a pretty significant time in a person’s life, and I experienced quite a few things.”

Now his ambitions are simple, he said. Raising his daughter, taking care of their home and being a good husband.

“Just living the dream,” he said.

He acknowledges that doctors told him up front that he would need another new heart eventually.

But that won’t be for awhile.

His most recent annual physical showed that he should enjoy 30-plus years with his new organ before another transplant is needed.

“To tell the truth, I don’t even think about it,” he said. “The one I’ve got now is working fine. I just take it one day at a time.”

He is grateful to everyone who helped him through the tough times, he said, including his friends and family and coworkers.

He also urges folks to consider organ donation, which he admitted was something he never gave much thought until his life depended on it.

Now that he has had so much success, he added, he’s about ready to write a letter thanking the family of his heart donor.

He knows just what he’ll say.

“I want to really, really let them know that it wasn’t in vain. That the heart hasn’t been wasted,” he said. “I seem to put it to pretty good use.”