When Jerri arrived at her doctor’s office with what she thought was the flu, she never would have imagined that she was suffering from a life threatening tear in her aorta. In just a few short hours, she went from her cardiologist’s office to open heart surgery at Cooper, where her heart would be stopped, her body cooled, and she’d undergo an intense surgery and recovery.

Now, two years later, Jerri has fought her way back to a renewed life and shares her journey with us here.

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Kevin Walls was a star basketball player at Camden High School. He graduated in 1984, was selected as a McDonald’s All–American and was recruited to play for the University of Louisville Cardinals. He was a fine-tuned athlete who previously had only suffered a knee injury.

So when doctors at his local hospital told him he had a life-threatening tear in his aorta, he was understandably scared. Kevin was immediately transferred to Cooper University Hospital, where he met with Joseph V. Lombardi, MD, Director of the Cooper Aortic Center. Dr. Lombardi explained that Kevin suffered from an aortic dissection and needed surgery to repair it. With new, minimally invasive endovascular techniques, the surgery could be performed by accessing the aorta through a small incision in Kevin’s leg.

This is his story.

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