Kenneth Horsey Named to SEC Community Service Team

Junior offensive guard Kenneth Horsey has been named to the 2021 Southeastern Conference Community Service Team, it was announced today. The SEC names a Community Service Team for each of its 21-league sponsored sports, looking to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to his community through superior service efforts.
 
Horsey, who hails from Sanford, Florida, has a remarkable comeback story that inspired his community service work for heart health.
In the spring of 2018, before he was to arrive at Kentucky for his freshman season, he was complaining of a pain in his side. His parents rushed him to the emergency room where doctors ultimately found a growth on one of his heart valves. He went through open-heart surgery on April 8, 2018 and was even told that his football career was over. However, Horsey would not be deterred. He came to Kentucky and redshirted the 2018 season with a goal of earning a starting spot on Kentucky’s offensive line, affectionately known as the “Big Blue Wall.” He has now played in 24 career games for the Wildcats with 20 straight starting assignments.
Because of his heart condition and how supported he felt through his surgery and recovery, he began volunteering with the Lexington chapter of the American Heart Association in 2020. Horsey was awarded the Finn Collier Service Award by the AHA earlier this season in recognition of his work to support its lifesaving mission – to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives. He was also named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and was a nominee for the Wuerffel Trophy presented to the top community servant in college football.
 
Here are a few of his community service events:

• Spoke at 2020 Central Kentucky Heart Walk kick-off event
• Spoke at 2020 UK Healthcare Heart Walk kick-off event
• Dedicated his 2020 football season to Finn Collier, a seven-year-old who lost his life to heart disease
• Participated in American Heart Month and National Wear Red Day (2020 and 2021)
• Participated in the 2021 Central Kentucky Heart Walk Digital Experience (2021)  
• Coordinated and planned a hands-only CPR training for the UK Football team and staff in the spring of 2021
• Helped plan a Hands-Only CPR media availability on June 14 that promoted Hands-Only CPR awareness to the media for CPR Awareness Month