Legal Assistant Part of AGA Medical Success Story

At 24 years of age, Alaskan legal assistant Amber Hydak was told that if she didn't have surgery to repair a hole in her heart, she wouldn't live to see age 35.

But fear of open-heart surgery kept her from undergoing it.

...About a year later, she stumbled on a Discovery Channel program describing a "patch-like thing" that could repair her heart in a minimally invasive procedure.

It was kismet. In March 2002, Hydak's heart was repaired using the device she had spotted on TV -- a wire disc made by AGA Medical. Today, she runs 5K races, hikes on mountaintops, and is studying for a nursing degree.

Today, despite a down economy and a rocky history that includes litigation over control of the company, AGA Medical is a corporate success story, "leading the way in structural heart disease treatment and new solutions for vascular conditions."

The future looks good for both Hydak and AGA Medical.

And who doesn't love the Discovery Channel?


Source: StarTribune.com