Baptist patient headed home with battery-powered heart
Brian Pedigo is helped onto an exam table by his wife, Amy, before a checkup at Baptist Memorial Hospital on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Pedigo, 41, is the first person in the region to leave a hospital with an artificial heart. “I am just happy to be here and be alive,” Pedigo said. “I’ve got to get myself built back up.” (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
The surgery he made it through is the closest thing to an artificial heart implant ever done in Memphis.
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Brian Pedigo Amy Pedigo Rachel Harrison Martin Strueber Baptist Heart Institute Ashish ShahJane Roberts
Jane Roberts has reported in Memphis for more than 20 years. As a senior member of The Daily Memphian staff, she was assigned to the medical beat during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also has done in-depth work on other medical issues facing our community, including shortages of specialists in local hospitals. She covered K-12 education here for years and later the region’s transportation sector, including Memphis International Airport and FedEx Corp.
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