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by Connie Krapp
Mike Leapaldt will be 50 years old next February 3. That is 50 years to the ‘day that the music died.’ The day that Buddy Holly, enroute to Fargo to perform a concert, was killed.
"I was born two hours after he died," quips Leapaldt. "I always tell my mother that ‘a great one was lost that day, but look at what was gained.’"
Although he finds irony and humor in telling his birth story, the fact that he is still telling it may be what is most amazing. "Doctors say I have lived longer than expected," he says. "My health problems began when I was 30 years old, with a major allergy attack. Doctors thought it was pneumonia."
After a week in the hospital, doctors discovered Leapaldt was allergic to sulfa. He was treated and everything was fine. For three years. "I had a major heart attack when I was 33, and lost function in a third of my heart," he says. "Then, I had my first stroke, and after that, a second heart attack."
His second heart attack led to bypass surgery, but that wasn’t the end of Leapaldt’s problems. "Twenty-four hours after the bypass, I had a second stroke. It was a big one that required me to be in rehab for two months," he recalls.
But rehab wasn’t the cure-all for Leapaldt’s problems. "One year after my second stroke, I had a third one. It was then they put in a defibrillator and pacemaker, and I’ve been more stable since," he says.
But Leapaldt’s definition of stability isn’t carefree. "This fall I spent 15 days in a Fargo hospital after they found a bleeder in my leg," he says. "The human body holds eight pints of blood, and they had to put seven pints in me. I had a severe infection too, and have been having more trouble bouncing back than usual."
Help when it’s needed
Along with the flood of ailments that Leapaldt has suffered has come a deluge of medical bills. "I have insurance, but it doesn’t cover all the cost that comes along with hospitals and doctors," he says. "And insurance isn’t covering all of the cost of medication."
For Leapaldt, who must take 18 pills each day, that cost is astronomical, and got the attention of Leapaldt’s pastor, Bruce Vold of Trinity Lutheran Church at Carrington. "I know that the uncovered costs of these meds were really troubling him, and I wanted to help," he says. "So I applied for Operation Round Up funding, and had the honor of going to Mike and presenting him with a $1,000 check."
Pastor Vold says the ORU award was a real surprise to Leapaldt. "He looked at it and his first words were that he didn’t know what to say. I teased him that it was the first time in his life he was speechless," he muses.
When it comes to ORU, neither Leapaldt nor Vold are without words. "It is such a great program, a really good way to help people who need it," says Vold. "The funds are easy to apply for and they don’t come with a lot of strings attached. I especially appreciate that Operation Round Up trusts people to do what’s right."
Pastor Vold, who has applied for Operation Round Up funds to help other people both inside and outside his church, says Mike was a great candidate for ORU funding. "He has a wonderful spirit of volunteerism and faith, always trying his best to help others. It was nice to be able to use this program to help him."
