Elderly LVAD recipient reaches 10 year milestone, inspires others
Elderly LVAD recipient reaches 10 year milestone, inspires others By Meghan Grey | January 9, 2021 at 5:13 PM CST - Updated January 10 at 9:50 PM
MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Eighty-four year-old Gayle Wilkerson holds the honor of living on a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, for 10 years. The device allows a person who has severe advanced heart failure to still have a reasonable quality of life.
“It has kept me going,” she said. It’s an achievement only a few patients in the U.S. have ever obtained.
Dr. Niti Aggarwal, a Cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, stated, “With the LVAD, her quality of life improved dramatically, and living 10 years for an 84-year-old woman is absolutely astounding.”