Success Story Inspires Heart Valve Recipient to Run Marathon

While browsing the St. Jude Medical Web site, Brian Moore became inspired by Les Barrett's story because, as Brian put it, "if Les could run a marathon after having valve surgery, I thought I could too." Like Les, Brian had been running regularly for years and thought he was ready for the ultimate challenge. "I don't want to put limits on myself," he admitted. Brian checked with his cardiologist, who told him as long as it wasn't too hot and as long as Brian kept himself hydrated throughout the race, he could run. If his training continued to go well, Moore could run the Chicago Marathon in 2004, proudly wearing his Powered by St. Jude Medical T-shirt.

What's even more exciting about Brian's story is that he runs with one of the early St. Jude Medical® mechanical heart valves. Brian's valve was implanted in 1984, when he was just 14 years old. "Back then, they didn't know how long the valve would last or if it would end up too small for me at some point," Brian explained. "We thought I'd have to go back every 10 years for a replacement valve." But Brian's regular checks have always revealed a fully-functioning valve. Now, it's been 20 years and the same valve is still going strong.

Brian's history with heart problems began at a very young age. At age 2, Brian's pediatrician referred him to a cardiologist who diagnosed Brian with subaortic stenosis. At the same time, they decided to wait until Brian was a little older to attempt a valve repair. Brian's native aortic valve was repaired at age four and again at age six. Then, at age 14, Brian's valve was replaced with a St. Jude Medical® mechanical valve. "They put in the biggest valve they could because I weighed only 80 pounds and they wanted the valve to accommodate my growth spurt." And it did. Four years later, when Brian graduated from high school, he doubled his weight.

Several years after valve replacement surgery, Brian had another open heart procedure. This time, his aorta was patched with a synthetic graft to treat coarctation of the aorta; an obstruction in this large vessel can lead to hypertension.

In total, Brian has had four open-heart procedures to treat a congenital heart condition. All procedures were performed at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois USA. Brian is thankful that Children's was there for him. He wanted to do something for them… for taking such good care of him as a kid. When Brian was on the Chicago Marathon Web site, signing up for the race, he followed a link that took him to a Children's Memorial fund raiser site. His new goal was to raise $1000 for the kids at Children's.

Brian follows the Runner's World training program for first time marathoners. He trains with his wife, Susi, and their dog, Sadee. "Susi and Sadee run with me up to five miles, and then I drop them off at home and continue with my longer runs." Susi and Brian celebrated their seven-year wedding anniversary on October 10, 2004… the day of the marathon.

Brian works as a District Manager for Takeda Pharmaceuticals. He's in health care in large part because he feels good about improving the quality of patients' lives. This altruistic tendency stems from the personal history he has with medicine. One might say it's in his blood, because of the challenges he faced as a kid.

The running is part of him too. "My dad has run 21 marathons in his life," Brian revealed. "I guess that's in my blood as well."

"I've had to deal with lots of adversity in my life, but I just deal with it. I'd take the heart problems I've had any day over some debilitating illness because this stuff is treatable," he said. "I don't really tell people about my heart problems or that I've had four open-heart surgeries, but if I'm in a situation where someone says, "Tell me something about yourself that we don't know," then I'll say, "I've had four open-heart surgeries."

In October 2004, Brian Moore celebrated his wedding anniversary by running the Chicago Marathon, with a 20-year-old fully functioning St. Jude valve in his chest. Brian finished the marathon with a great time of 05:05:42. He ran for himself; he ran as inspiration for other valve recipients; and he ran for the kids at Children’s Memorial.

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