AID - Curt Reynolds is living proof that doctors can not always measure the power of the human spirit.

After suffering from heart problems, Reynolds was the recipient of a heart transplant. Doctors made a grim prediction that he would only live five years and would probably never see any of his grandchildren born.

Nearly a decade and a half later, the 62-year-old Reynolds says he is still going strong as he rides his mower through the lawn and takes care of a small garden.

"If I make it to March 27, it will be 14 years using someone else's ticker," he said with a smile on his sun-baked face. "I was not going to make it if I did not get a transplant."

Continuing to defy the odds, he watched the birth of his sixth grandchild, Nicholas Sparks, last week.

"It is hard to explain how it feels to see a new life brought into this old world," he said. "Someone has to take our place when we are gone."

Reynolds himself was born less than two miles away and has lived in Aid his entire life. Living on County Road 29 with his wife Deloris, they are surrounded by friends and family.

Reynolds still enjoys cutting the grass and working in the scarecrow-protected garden behind his grand-daughter's house. Deer came in at night and ate two rows of his garden that includes tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, beans and peppers, he said.

"I put the scarecrows out for the deer," he said. "I am not too worried about the crows. "

So far, it has worked fairly well because he used sweaty shirts and a secret ingredient, he said.

"The garden ain't nothing to brag about this year," he said. "But, I ain't the only one. The weather has been tough."

Though he does not want to overdo it, he said it is nice to get out in the garden whenever possible.

"It is relaxing for me when I get outside," he said. "There for a while I could not do anything. I like to keep busy."