“Age is but a number,” says former British Olympian Kayaker David Mitchell.
Shortly after his open-heart surgery, the 83-year-old was back skate-skiing on the cross-country ski trails in the woods behind his home.
“He did very well. He was home, I think, in three days, which is a record. But he likes to make records,” says Cardiac Surgeon Henry J. Tannous, MD, who recently joined Cardiologist Natalia J. Berry, MD, MBA to speak with Mitchell.
Together, they discussed Mitchell’s experience as an Olympian, his surgery, and why he recovered so successfully.
How he prepared
Mitchell’s lifelong appreciation for fitness helped shape his mindset.
“I just kept myself in reasonable shape, and then I could go into rehab, and it seemed pretty easy because that's the sort of thing I'd done all my life. Running on a treadmill, rowing, on a bicycle, doing some weights. It wasn't any hardship,” Mitchell says.
Not only is Mitchell a former Olympic kayaker, but he got a silver in the 1967 World Championships, a bronze in the 1964 World Championships, and coached U.S. teams at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He and his wife, Peggy Mitchell, a former competitive kayaker herself, also trained several junior world champions before starting their company, Mitchell Paddles, which their son, Peter, now runs.
As reported in this NHPR article, paddles from that company helped two Olympians win gold medals at Barcelona and Athens. More recently, the American team at the London Olympics competed in the double-canoe slalom with Mitchell Paddles.
How Mitchell feels now
On visiting the two doctors, Mitchell expressed his appreciation for the great work they did and the fact that he is now able to return to his woodworking workshop, which sits atop a hill on his property in New Hampshire.
“I don't even stop now, I can just keep going and with no ill effects. Dartmouth Health has been fantastic all along,” he explains.
Mitchell doesn't seem to be planning to slow down anytime soon.
“I'm looking forward to a few more years of active life. I don't know how many I've got, but it's always in the back of the mind of people who are my age, just how long have they got, and so I'm just going to try and live it to the full,” he says.