Iakopo makes comeback, wants to promote rugby

Stanley Iakopo admits that he had a colorful past before leaving Saipan in 2008. That included run-ins with the law and outbursts that either resulted in fights or arguments with a number of people.

More than six years had passed, the once impulsive CNMI athlete is making a comeback but has mellowed down hoping to give back to the sports community that he was once part of.
“I admit and recognize that it had been part of my life and I own up to it. You can’t forget about that, but your past doesn’t define you. I don’t want to be like that anymore,” said Iakopo, who literally had a change of heart after receiving a cow valve in his second open-heart surgery.

“Even my family was against him. They don’t approve of our relationship. But I stuck with him and believed that someday he will change,” said Iakopo’s wife, the former Priscilla Flores Maratita, who has a business administration degree and earned her master’s at University of Phoenix.

Stanley and Priscilla have always been thankful to God for the second chance he received.

“God has his own way. He made a way for me to realize my mistakes. Now it all makes sense to me why He had put me in those kinds of humiliating situations and why I went through all of that,” added Iakopo, an active U.S. Air Force Reservist under the 944th Fighter Wing.

The former CNMI sprinter, who represented the Commonwealth to the 1997 Pacific Mini Games in American Samoa, nearly died after collapsing during a routine physical training in 2009. He was rushed to the hospital and a heart stress was done that later showed his mitral valve had calcified.

Iakopo, who was experiencing tiredness and shortness of breath, was also spitting blood during his PT. But before being diagnosed with the condition, he passed all his fitness tests.

“I was in Washington doing the fitness test. I was in the final lap when I passed out but I managed to grab the shoulder of the trainer before I collapsed. The front of my shirt was covered in blood. I was spitting blood because of the malfunctioning valve,” said Iakopo, who was then suffering from mitral valve stenosis.

According to the Mayo Clinic’s Web Site, a mitral valve stenosis or mitral stenosis is the narrowing of the heart’s mitral valve. This abnormal valve doesn’t open properly, blocking blood flow into the main pumping chamber of the heart (left ventricle). Mitral valve stenosis can make you tired and have shortness of breath, among other problems.

The main cause of mitral valve stenosis is an infection called rheumatic fever, which is related to strep infections. Rheumatic fever— now rare in the United States, but still common in developing countries—can scar the mitral valve. Left untreated, mitral valve stenosis can lead to serious heart complications.

He had an open-heart surgery to clean the valve and it took him seven months to recover with Priscilla beside him every step of the way.

“I’ve always supported him, through thick and thin I was there. I was always beside him. I forced him to go walk and exercise slowly. I even threw away his pain medicines because I don’t want him to rely on those pills. When he’s sleeping, I always talk to him, reminding him of our kids and his love of sports,” said Priscilla.

Iakopo said the love and support of his family helped his fast recovery. He recovered and thought he was already healed of his heart problem but that wasn’t the end of it.

“From 2009 to 2011, I was okay. But one night, while we were just watching at home, I felt that my heart rate went fast. I was again rushed to the emergency room where they found out that I had tachycardia, a condition where you experienced an abnormally rapid heart rate. Every time I experienced that, I had to be rushed to the ER to reset my heart and get it back to normal, ” said Iakopo.

Iakopo’s wife said seeing his husband unconscious and trying to get his heart rate back to normal has always been a tense and grueling experience. “I don’t know if he’s coming back. I just closed my eyes and prayed to God to give my husband back. Back to me and his kids,” added a teary-eyed Priscilla.

Iakopo was in and out of the ER 15 times in a span of two years and he received a procedure called cardioversion, where a patient is placed under anesthesia and doctors deliver an electrical shock to reset the heart rate to normal.

And that was when his heart surgeon suggested another open-heart surgery, giving him several options to replace the valve. His doctor suggested to either use a mechanical cadaver or bovine as a replacement valve.

“I let him explain the pros and cons before we made a decision. He told me if we used a mechanical valve, I will retire from military service and could only play golf. I want to still serve my country so we scratched that out. With the cadaver valve, I might reject it if it won’t match with my tissue. That’s when the doctor told me about the bovine valve, which is similar to a human tissue. We went with the cow valve,” said Iakopo, whose valve came from a bull.

“Now, I can still enjoy playing sports, particularly rugby, which I plan to introduce here in the CNMI. I can still play with my kids, enjoy life, and remain in the military,” added Iakopo, a speech language pathology graduate at University of Hawaii and received his master’s degree in education from Framingham State University in Massachusetts.