Former fire chief turned to pickleball after health crisis; now he’s gunning for a national championship

BATON ROUGE – Former Baton Rouge Fire Chief Edwin Smith spent more than four decades saving lives.

But over the past five years, he’s found something that’s saved him from his heart attack: pickleball.

In 2018, Smith suffered a cardiac arrest andwas rushed to the emergency room, where he was told his liver was no longer functioning and his kidneys and heart were functioning at less than 10%.

He was transferred to Ochsner, where doctors implanted him with a heart pump, the first of its kind, called a left ventricular assist device that restored Smith’s life.

After regaining his strength and mobility, he started playing pickleball to stay healthy

Smith and his friend eventually won gold in the men’s doubles at age 65–69 at the Louisiana Senior Games 2022.

He is now training to compete in the 2024 Louisiana Senior Games on October 4-6. After that, he hopes to qualify for the national finals in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“This computer controls the pump that controls my heart. So when you do this, it’s actually a life-changing event. I’ve been through some tough times and luckily through mutual friends I discovered pickleball. It really gave me an extension to do things and have a focus and set goals for things,” Smith said. “It’s really been a great joy to experience this over the last few years.”