Jim Richard’s eyes well up with tears as he remembers the last couple years of his life.

Born with holes in his heart, Richard’s health had deteriorated to the point he had been kicked off the heart transplant list in 2009.

He had hit rock bottom.

Richard could only walk a few feet before getting winded and his weight had skyrocketed.

“My doctors told me I wasn’t doing enough,” remembers Richard, who co-owns Fast Breaks in Lewiston with his wife. “They thought I wasn’t with the program. I looked and felt like a beaten man. And as my body crumbled, I fell into a big depression. I was mentally and physically broken; 2009 and 2010 were the worst.”

Two open heart surgeries, one in 1966 and the other in 1974, had left his heart so damaged that scar tissue was causing electrical malfunctions.

During a Patriots playoff game in 2003, his heart started beating so fast that no pulse could be detected. According to his Emergency Room doctors, he died 19 times that day.

From there, things just got worse.

Of the 55 pills he takes per day, one caused his thyroid to go hyper. He had to take massive doses of prednisone to combat the damage until the thyroid could be removed.

Then, because his thyroid was malfunctiong, he had double vision for 18 months.

The same drug that caused his hyperthyroidism caused extensive and painful nerve damage that led to his hip bone not getting any oxygen and it was slowly crumbled.

In June 2011, Richard’s ailing hip was replaced and one month later he decided to take back his life.

He hit the disc golf course at Sabattus Disc Golf. Richard went at his own pace and started slowly. He would throw the disc, hobble over to a stump with his cane and rest. Then he would repeat the whole process again until he had finished the hole.

He did this for 9 holes on The Owl.

What would take healthy people 30 minutes to complete, would take Richard two hours.

The attraction of disc golf to Richard was that he could move at his own pace and no one would be bothered.

“The people are so friendly here. They would play through while I was resting and ask me if I was OK. I really caught the bug. I was in such a dark place before, and now I feel good about myself.”

The crew at Sabattus Disc Golf can count on seeing Richard at least five times per week. He has moved up to playing The Hawk, an 18-hole course, in about an hour and 45 minutes.

He has lost 35 pounds, had to reduce the dosage on some of his medications and take five less pills per day.

“I’m alive again. I can look people in the eye. I’m not miserable and I’m not hiding at home anymore,” he said.

Through it all, he says his family — wife, Lela, and sons Pete and Mike — have been his backbone.

“My wife, Lela, has supported me through this by keeping the business going and being by my side. She was the only stable thing.”

But Richard doesn’t plan on stopping now that his health is back on track.

This winter, he may walk in the pool or find another activity that interests.

And of course, next spring, he will hit the disc golf course.