Lin Lawrence

Lin Lawrence knew early on that he had something wrong with his heart but it was never anything that kept him from doing what he loved. At age 15 he was diagnosed with a heart murmur but was told not to worry about it. So he didn't think much about it for many years, even when he served as an instrument flight instructor in the Marine Corps during the Second World War. More than six decades passed before it became an issue.

Born on a farm in Canada, Lawrence and his family became US citizens in 1931 and moved to Houlton, Maine where he attended high school. After marrying his sweetheart Emilie, they moved to Pensacola, Fla. where he trained pilots during the war. Teaching them the latest aggressive aerobatic maneuvers and formation flying for combat was a stressful job even though he wasn't flying in the oversea arenas. He was just about to be sent abroad to fight in 1946 when the war ended.

After the war

The couple, along with their two small children, moved back to Maine that year and Lawrence opened an FAA flight school where he trained G.I.s, many of whom went on to become commercial pilots. In the early 60s as jets became more popular, Lawrence moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. and became an aviation expert for an insurance company.

"Most flew prop jets in those days," says Lawrence. "Before these outfits could get insured they'd have to get checked out by me."

All along Lawrence remained in good health. As his children Linda and David grew up, they also learned to fly, trained by their father in his twin-engine Piper. In the mid-80s he and Emilie moved to Port St. Lucie where they planned to stay. It was there that she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. As a way to cope with the stress of taking care of her as the disease worsened, Lawrence started building planes in his garage. He finished the first one -- an RV-6 — in 1992 and named it "Miss Emilie." It was the plane he flew himself to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. in at age 81 for heart surgery just a few years later.

A leaky valve

Lawrence became aware of his heart condition around the same time they found out about Emilie's disease. He was told that the heart murmur his doctors had mentioned years ago was caused by something he was born with — a bicuspid aortic valve. Bicuspid aortic valves occur when the aortic valve doesn't develop properly during gestation. The aortic valve is one of four in the heart, and it sits between the aorta and left ventricle. On a normal valve there are three flaps that open to allow the blood to pass and close to prevent backflow. A bicuspid valve has only two flaps instead of three and in Lawrence's case the two flaps he had were thicker than usual. With the valves not opening all the way, the blood flow was being obstructed from its path from the heart into the aorta and the valve did not close properly allowing some blood to leak back into the heart. At the time, however, the condition wasn't causing problems so he was followed closely for the next several years.

A life-saving surgery

Taking care of his wife as she entered the final years of her disease was a trying time for Lawrence. In 1997, he started to experience fatigue and was having shortness of breath. Another trip to Mayo Clinic brought him the diagnosis of aortic valve stenosis, the end result of his congenital birth defect and his age. Over time his condition resulted in further narrowing of his aortic valve and worsening leakage, which caused his heart to work harder to pump blood through his body.

"I was very tired," says Lawrence. "Any exertion at all wore me out."

Lawrence was referred to cardiac surgeon Dr. Hartzell Schaff who told him he needed the valve replaced.

"He had both narrowing and leakage of the aortic valve and was clearly disabled," says Dr. Schaff. "After a diagnosis of aortic valve stenosis is made in patients with symptoms the risk of developing complications increases. The chance of sudden death or severe heart failure within the next three years is about 50/50."

Dr. Schaff performed the three-hour surgery on Lawrence in July 1997, replacing the defective valve with one made of bovine pericardium (cow heart lining). The benefit of a tissue valve compared to a mechanical valve is that the patient does not have to take blood thinners after the surgery. Tissue valves last about 10-15 years, which is ideal for an 80-year-old patient.

Still flying high

Seven years after his surgery Lawrence is still going strong.

He goes for checkups at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville since it's closer to his home in south Florida. He lost Emilie in 2001 but his love for airplanes and a strong bond with family and friends has kept his spirits high. He sold his first plane and used the proceeds to build another one, this time an RV-9 that he named "Miss Linda" after his daughter. With help from his grandsons and his friends at the airport, he completed it in the spring of 2004 right around his 88th birthday. And he flew it.

"In 66 years I've flown over 15,000 hours," says Lawrence.

He'd put in 16 flight hours with Miss Linda when hurricane season struck Florida hard in September. His plane was one of the few that escaped damage when Hurricane Frances rolled ashore just north of him. Unfortunately, things didn't go as well when Hurricane Jeanne made a direct hit on the Stuart area just three weeks later.

"It blew the hanger doors right off and one of them landed on top of Miss Linda, crushing her," says Lawrence.

But that isn't keeping him down. Armed with a positive outlook, a full toolbox, assistance from family and friends — and a healthier heart — he plans to have her up in the air again soon.