Dr. Carter Turner had long forgotten about perfect days. He had been in pain from age 20-40. Each day was a physical chore. So, when he was stuck in traffic en route to pickleball and suddenly realized he was once again able to experience utter happiness, he reacted.
“I almost came to tears in my car. I couldn’t believe I had a chance to play this game. I could barely walk 12 years ago and had a heart attack 5 years ago, and now I have a second lease on life.”
Turner is thankful for the game of pickleball, not because he has a 4.85 DUPR rating or because he is often on the medals podium. His rationale is much more straightforward. Turner is happy when he plays.
“It is very hard to be happy when you are in chronic pain,” he said.
His chronic pain was the culmination of many years of tolerating a bad back, having had 2 surgeries and a spine fusion.
As a young student at Virginia Tech, a healthy Turner, who was a certified United States Professional Tennis Association coach, could often be seen teaching tennis lessons. He also coached a couple of high school teams. Turner’s ambition inspired him to leave Virginia Tech before graduating in 1990 to work as a pro in Philadelphia.
The year was quite challenging, and Turner felt like he was in over his head, so he returned to Virginia Tech to finish school.
“After I graduated Virginia Tech two years later, I was a pro in Roanoke, Virginia, and then in Atlanta – each for a year and a half. I met Karen in Atlanta, got married, left tennis, and moved to Denver to start graduate school,” he said.
Turner felt like he wanted something more than tennis. He focused his attention entirely on his academic pursuits. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology and became a tenured professor of religion at Radford University. He and his wife started a family, and he began to focus on the big questions that often present themselves in religious studies.
“I looked at the intersection of religion and nationalism. I also looked at the tensions of Christianity and slavery,” he said.
Now busy with family and career, he no longer played tennis. He was splitting his time between family, the university, and politics, becoming the Democratic candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates in a Republican district.
“I ran three times and lost. Running for office helped me to realize I’m collaborative in nature, seeking common ground. Politics aren’t like that,” he said.
Like many people, Turner began to accept things about his life and health. His back was throbbing. He had two surgeries by the time he was 40 years old and was left struggling with pain when he walked. He accepted it. He was in a meeting and had discomfort in his chest, so he was taken to the ER. The doctors told him it was not a heart attack, just heartburn. He accepted it. Two months later, at age 47, Turner had a heart attack.
“I had no pre-existing conditions. What I had was a lot of stress. I was overdoing it. I was a department chair; I overdid it. I had a job as a strategist and political commentator. I was a democratic strategist facing the far-right wing of media. I overdid it, constantly studying, so I wasn’t made a fool,” he said.
Turner survived his heart attack without heart damage primarily because he knew immediately what was happening. He went from symptoms to the ambulance to the hospital for a stint, and the entire process was 1 hour and 15 minutes.
“The first 6 months, I felt fragile and vulnerable,” he said.
Turner decided to accept what happened, but with one big difference: he focused on himself this time. He got entirely out of politics and moved from professor to fundraising. He is still tenured and can return to teaching, but now he is home when the workday is complete. He also accepted an invitation from a friend that had extended it just before his heart attack; he decided to try pickleball.
Happiness is pickleball
“The first time I hit the ball, it felt so natural and took me back to tennis. I was hooked,” he said.
He fell in love with the game, and for the first time in many years, he was smiling. He went from the pressures of preparing for a class, debating politics, and publishing academic literature to contemplating lobs, crosscourt dinks, and blocking shots. He needed the change.
“It is amazing. I saw myself changing things like diet, stretching, and my overall outlook. If you want to get better at pickleball, you have to get better at your life,” he said.
The former tennis pro has gotten better at life and the sport. He has had a lot of tournament success and was invited to become the Pickleball Pro at Stonegate Swim and Tennis in Salem, Va. Turner looks at pickleball as a gift. He knows that surviving a heart attack demonstrates how fragile life is and how quickly it can end. He has realized that his health surpasses negative distractions that can often surface at a moment’s notice.
In a recent blog post, Turner detailed how he played lousy one evening. He received discouraging looks from the other players. He was worried he would play poorly again and contemplated not returning the next night. His love of the game and focus on his well being enabled him to dismiss these feelings.
“This game is so much more important to me than anything that can happen on one or two nights. It is no one’s business what game I bring. It is no one else’s business but mine. I know why I play – where it has taken me, health, happiness, and peace of mind,” he said.
Turner doesn’t want to play poorly. He works a lot to not, and he often doesn’t.
“If I disappoint you, it is not my problem. If I lay an egg, I will not feel bad or suffer. That is the kind of stuff that used to keep me up at night with work,” he said.
Turner hopes to play and get as good at the game as possible with the time he has left to play. He realizes at his age, certain things will hurt, especially his back, but he points at pickleball as the solution.
His wife calls him a whole new person since finding the game. Dr. Turner smiles happily that he is lucky enough to have this second lease on life.
