{"id":30517,"date":"2019-10-29T14:26:50","date_gmt":"2019-10-29T19:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/?p=30517"},"modified":"2025-05-11T09:40:30","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T14:40:30","slug":"inspiris-resilia-patient-success-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2019\/10\/29\/inspiris-resilia-patient-success-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Skydiver, Bill Legard, Jumps For An Edwards INSPIRIS RESILIA Heart Valve Replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Bill Legard is a very active 59-year old.\u00a0 He\u2019s a skydiver, a pilot, an entrepreneur and Bill makes parachutes for a living.\u00a0 On a recent hike in Indonesia, Bill struggled with shortness of breath. His cardiologist diagnosed Bill with severe aortic stenosis, a life-threatening form of heart valve disease.<\/p>\n<p>Considering his active lifestyle, Bill struggled with his valve replacement options.\u00a0 Then, Bill heard about the <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/33nAERF\">INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve<\/a> from Edwards Lifesciences that is helping so many patients in our community.\u00a0 This is Bill\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2I3OqeYH5xU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->Many thanks to Bill for sharing his amazing story with our community!\u00a0 And, as always, thanks to Dr. Kevin Accola at AdventHealth in Orlando, Florida, for taking such great care of Bill!<\/p>\n<p>I would also like to congratulate Edwards Lifesciences for its continued success with the INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve that took over a decade to develop.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/33nAERF\">See INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve approved by the FDA.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/32a8Wrr\">Download the INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve brochure for patients.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edwards.com\/patients-care-partners\/heart-valve-disease-information\/surgical\/resilia-aortic-valve\">Learn more about the INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.edwards.com\/newsroom\/news\/2025-04-18-eight-year-data-confirm-long-term-durability-of-ed\">8-Year Durability for RESILIA Confirm Long-Term Durability<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keep on tickin!<br \/>\nAdam<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Important Safety Information: INSPIRIS RESILIA Aortic Valve<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Indications:<\/strong> For use in replacement of native or prosthetic aortic heart valves. <strong>Contraindications:<\/strong> There are no known contraindications with the use of the INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve. <strong>Complications and Side Effects:<\/strong> Thromboembolism, valve thrombosis, hemorrhage, hemolysis, regurgitation, endocarditis, structural valve deterioration, nonstructural dysfunction, stenosis, arrhythmia, transient ischemic attack\/stroke, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, any of which could lead to reoperation, explantation, permanent disability, and death. <strong>Warnings:<\/strong> DO NOT ADJUST THE VALVE DIAMETER BY EXPANDING THE BAND PRIOR TO\/OR DURING IMPLANTATION OF THE SURGICAL VALVE. The expandable band is not designed to allow for compression or expansion during implantation of the surgical valve. This will cause damage to the valve and may result in aortic incompetence. DO NOT PERFORM STAND-ALONE BALLOON AORTIC VALVULOPLASTY PROCEDURES ON THIS VALVE FOR THE SIZES 19 \u2013 25 mm as this may expand the valve causing aortic incompetence, coronary embolism or annular rupture. Valve-in-Valve sizing in the INSPIRIS valve has only been tested with specific Edwards transcatheter heart valves. Use of other transcatheter valves may result in embolization of transcatheter devices anchored within or result in annular rupture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CAUTION: Federal (USA) law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician. See instructions for use for full prescribing information, including indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions, and adverse events.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>P.S. For the hearing impaired members of our community, please find below a written transcript of Bill\u2019s video.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BILL:<\/strong> My name is Bill Legard. I\u2019m 59 years old, I live in DeLand, Florida. I\u2019ve been fortunate to lead a very active lifestyle. I wanna get up and go and make things happen. I enjoy flying airplanes, skiing, scuba diving, cycling and that\u2019s a way I\u2019ve chosen to live my life. Flying airplanes gives my wife and I freedom, the ability to see the world in a way that not everybody else gets to see it. And in order to support this adventure habit, I\u2019ve recently started a parachute company with a friend. It allows me to combine my love of adventure with an actual business that helps support that. I first found out I had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/aortic-stenosis-valve-heart-narrowing.php\">aortic stenosis<\/a> by accident when I was being prepped for back surgery. I had no symptoms. Then last year, I was in Bali, and we climbed a thousand foot peak and I found myself being very short of breath, my heart rate would go up to 125, I\u2019d sit down, rest, drink water, and it took me 8 cycles of that to climb 1,000 feet. When I met with my cardiologist later, he said \u201cYou\u2019re not just out of shape. Those are symptoms of aortic stenosis and it\u2019s now moved to severe. And you will need a valve replacement at some point in the future.\u201d That was hard to hear. The things that could be affected by this situation, my family, my business. The fear was very real. But luckily, there was a solution.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Accola:<\/strong> At Bill\u2019s age of 59, we\u2019d consider a mechanical heart valve, which will last longer, but to avoid a potential stroke, he\u2019d have to take blood thinners or Coumadin and follow a very dedicated dosing schedule the rest of his life. Plus blood thinners would put Bill at a significant risk of severe bleeding.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BILL:<\/strong> Blood thinners would mean completely re-looking at how I live my life. If I were no longer able to pursue my passion, it would certainly impact my livelihood.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Accola:<\/strong> Tissue valves are a better choice for active people, but depending on the patient\u2019s age, they may not last as long with earlier valve deterioration. So I told him about the new INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve. This valve is made with RESILIA tissue, it\u2019s a bovine pericardial tissue with integrity preservation technology that actually blocks calcium buildup on the valve over time. The animal data on RESILIA tissue is quite promising and it could really make a difference for active patients. The INSPIRIS Valve also has a feature called VFit technology.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BILL:<\/strong> &#8230;And that was an-an easy no-brainer decision. The surgery went pretty seamless, and now I\u2019m three months out and I feel fantastic. I\u2019m exercising regularly, I\u2019m taking on tons of challenges\u2026 meeting new customers\u2026and I feel great. Getting back to flying has been amazing. It\u2019s wonderful to be able, after the heart surgery and recovery to get back in and have that freedom to go. But sometimes it\u2019s not enough and I just gotta jump. If you\u2019re gonna jump, you better have a good parachute. And we make fantastic parachutes. And that\u2019s super rewarding. I could not even imagine what my life would be like on blood thinners. So I\u2019m grateful for this amazing product and what the new INSPIRIS valve has done for me.<\/p>\n<p>Edwards, Edwards Lifesciences, INSPIRIS, INSPIRIS RESILIA, and RESILIA are trademarks of Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 2019 Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. All rights reserved. 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