Kevin Rhinehart—Always Pushing His Limits
By Ma‘ata Tukuafu
Life for Kevin Rhinehart changed drastically when he suffered a life-threatening stroke in January 2012 at the age of 53. At the time, his career as a successful psychotherapist was flourishing and he performed regularly as a musician. “The stroke happened, and it was not anybody’s fault,” says Kevin. “I found out later I had high blood pressure and high cholesterol, but like many of us, we don’t know.”
Kevin was born in Korea and was adopted at six months old. He grew up in the suburbs of Washington state, and spent part of his eighth-grade year enrolled in a high school in Honolulu.
Kevin and his wife, Laurie, moved to Kona in 2015 and lived here for two years. He said he felt so at home among the residents. They needed to move to Idaho after that, and visited their “heart home” in Kona as often as possible, while dreaming of their move back.
Stroke to Running in Three Years
Shortly after his stroke occurred, Kevin had to be in a wheelchair. He had difficulty swallowing, he couldn’t speak, and the entire right side of his body was affected. This meant that the left side of his brain was the side that had the stroke. He had to quit his job and stop playing music.
“It took some getting used to,” Kevin says. “I still play around on my electric bass, but the right hand and fingers are not cooperative. They’re essentially pretty useless. I have foot rot as a result too, but despite the negatives, it [the stroke] has given me a new lease on life.”
In 2012, shortly after the stroke occurred, he spent a lot of time doing occupational, physical, and speech therapy which was a big help in his recovery. Later that year his health insurance ran out, so he had to improvise, finding ways to physically stay in shape and keep his body strong. In 2015, when he and his wife moved to Kona, his adult daughter visited them.
“I don’t know whose idea it was to race up the hill about 20 yards, but I beat her, and I didn’t know I could even run,” Kevin says with a laugh. “I wasn’t fast and maybe she let me win, but I didn’t do anything with it. Later that year I was a volunteer at a water station for the Ironman Triathlon World Championship, and by the end of it, I decided to begin training for the next triathlon.”
Kevin says he remembered his run with his daughter and doesn’t know if it was an act of inspiration or craziness, but he decided to begin training for the triathlon early the next year. Many medical professionals either heavily discounted their rates or trained him for free. He says that both his adult children, his wife, and his friends were very supportive of him.
“A lot of people say that their friends abandoned them after they had a stroke, but I didn’t experience that. Maybe my friendships have changed, but change is normal anyway. And my friends have been a big help, a lot of people showed me love,” Kevin says.
He also attributes much of his healing and working through the aftereffects of stroke to his faith in God. “Early on with my stroke, I said, ‘Well, God, you are going to have to love me through this, because win, lose, or draw, that’s all I got,’” says Kevin.
Before beginning his triathlon training, Kevin volunteered for a homeless organization and tried to start a stroke survivors’ group in Kona, but he says it didn’t go very far. His purpose really began that October when he made up his mind to train. He remembers he could swim pretty decently, his biking was minimal, but didn’t like to run. Then Kevin found a trainer who coached him for free and he ran his first sprint in November 2015. “At the finish I thought I was going to die, but I didn’t and I was hooked,” he said.
Kevin was selected in the Hawai‘i resident triathlon lottery as a physically-challenged participant for the 2016 triathlon. Throughout his training, he would think, “This is not about me, it’s about giving hope to stroke survivors.” He created a foundation called Stroke Survivors Can, with the main purpose of giving courage, hope, and empowerment to stroke survivors. “Whether the aftereffects are mild or profound, dream what your life may become. Stroke is not the end,” Kevin asserts. “Dream big, dream ridiculously big.”
The Kona triathlon community welcomed him warmly, and they consistently encouraged Kevin throughout his training. If people asked him if he was sad that he’d had the stroke, Kevin would tell them that he was initially despondent, and thought his life was over. But now, he says it’s an adjustment and isn’t sad anymore. He even says he’s “kind of glad” he had a stroke because he reaches so many people, even non-stroke people.
Regarding his life before the stroke, Kevin says although he misses playing music and helping people with psychotherapy, he is in good physical shape and has learned that overall, people can be “pretty nice.” Before his stroke Kevin would do everything himself. Since his stroke, he sometimes has to ask for help even from strangers. As an example, Kevin couldn’t get his wetsuit sleeve on before his recent swim and had to ask for assistance from a passerby, who gladly helped him. It is a reminder for him to be inter-dependent, not so independent. And Kevin adds that he learned the value of having really good friends.
He has also learned to live much simpler financially, paring down from his psychotherapy income to living on Social Security disability checks. “I’ve learned to slow down, except for driving,” jokes Kevin, and adds, “And I’ve learned the value of being alone because my wife is a flight attendant, and I’m alone much of the time. I say I’m going to read more books, but after training for a triathlon I have no energy, so I’m listening to books on Audible.”
He’s also learned it’s about challenging limits. For other stroke survivors, Kevin seeks to inspire. “If you can’t move your hand, try every day to move it. Because I try every day to run, or bike, or swim, or move my hand,” he says. “I know a person who was a voracious reader. She had a stroke, and has just finished a kindergarten book, and that’s a big deal! It’s an even bigger deal than running a marathon. I read about a guy who after two years post-stroke, it took him 45 minutes to tie his shoes. And that’s amazing. I don’t have that kind of patience, so I use a cheater [Velcro],” he quips.
Attitude has a lot to do with the success of living a fulfilling life. Kevin says it’s a choice between gratitude or bitterness. Even though he can’t do a lot of what he used to do, Kevin keeps working at it. He is grateful, resilient, and perseverant, and states that he’s been perserverant his entire life.
Kevin has run many marathons over the years, and plans, at the age of 62, to participate in the 2021 Ironman Triathlon. His hope is to inspire and give hope to other stroke survivors, to live life fully. “There are so many stroke survivors and their will to live and thrive is gone. I want to give them hope because there’s life to be had!” says Kevin.
He credits the Challenged Athletes Association for assisting him, as well as coaches, medical personnel, and other organizations who have helped him on his path.
“Life is a gift, and we can’t pick and choose what battles or trials we face. But once I got a wakeup call, it was like, ‘Now what I’m going to do about it?’ I choose to treat life as a gift and not feel sorry for myself.” ❖
For more information:
strokesurvivorscan.org
gofund.me/9d75ae70
