So in April 2008, Letkeman had heart surgery to fill the hole.
So naturally, just over a year and a half later, the 30-year-old mother of two — five-year-old Peyton (yes, he was named after the football playing Manning) and now two-year-old Hunter — is preparing to compete in her first-ever kickboxing card fight this Saturday.
After just over six months of intensive training, Letkeman will become one of the unlikeliest combatants in a sport of this nature.
In April of this year, Letkeman began training at ATC Martial Arts in Prince Albert after Peyton started karate.
But what was once just an effort to keep up with her son and help him practise at home has now developed into a full-blown passion.
"Peyton started (in karate) and he'd come home and want to spar and just practise, and I was out of shape and I hadn't done anything since my heart surgery ... because I was scared," Letkeman said. "When you stop breathing, it's kind of a scary thing. But they said they have a kickboxing class, and I thought that was something I would be more interested in.
"I tried it and I loved it. I've been pumped ever since to fight. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally nervous, but I'm pumped to give it a go. It might be my first and last fight, but it might be my first and I'll keep going at it. We'll see."
Letkeman will fight another rookie in Amber Berg of Winnipeg as part of Fight War III, a Muay Thai and kickboxing event at Ed's Inn on the Shellbrook highway.
And she's been preparing since day one for this fight — even if day one was something she'd rather forget.
"I thought I was going to die," Letkeman said, recalling her first kickboxing class. "I thought maybe I'm too old for this, but after about a month you get used to it. Your muscles aren't as sore as they were the very first day. It's still a lot of work. It's work and fun at the same time, but I love it and I hate missing class."
Shortly after she started training, Wolfgang Manicke, who runs the martial arts centre, saw something different in Letkeman and inquired.
"One day ... I noticed she was training a little bit harder than most of them in the gym," Manicke said. "So I asked her what she wanted to do. And she said she wanted to fight one day, and I think she's trying to prove to herself that she can.
"Right now she's the most nervous person, but when you watch her, you can see that she wants to do it. She has the desire and she's learning. As a coach she's really easy to (teach)."
Now, of course Manicke is going to be encouraging and supportive but the real question is: What does her husband, Michael, think?
"My husband is leery," Letkeman said. "He's all for it, but he just doesn't want to see me get hurt. But he'll help me train if he needs to. (At first), he was like 'OK.' I don't think he was too into the fighting, but he's been supportive."
As for the fight itself, Letkeman doesn't know anything about her opponent, and frankly, doesn't want to.
"It will be interesting," she said. "I just want to go in and do what I can do, and hopefully that will work. Hopefully I can stay up on my feet and throw as many punches and kicks as I can to get as many points as I can. If I win, great, but ... if I get knocked out, oh well.
"As long as I give it all I got, I'll be happy."
Her coach is ready. Her husband is ready. And, after a consultation with her heart specialist in August, Letkeman is more than ready.
Mom, go get her.
mjanzen@paherald.sk.ca
