Life expectancy in the United States took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is still the case that many Americans are living longer lives – much longer.

There are about 100,000 centenarians living in the United States today, a number that is more than double what it was just a generation ago. One Palm Bay man happy to join the ranks is Luther Radway.

The Jamaican-born, retired New York City medical physicist moved to Florida as a much younger man in his 60s. His long life would have seemed inconceivable as a child growing up in Jamaica, he says, where the drinking water was untreated, and he received his first toothbrush at the age of 12.

“I think it’s by the grace of God that I am here talking to you.”

Radway never misses a doctor’s appointment. He is an evangelist for modern medicine, so when his Health First Cardiologist, Enrique Polanco, MD, told him that his aortic valve would need to be treated, he was happy to make a care plan.

Radway, like many older Americans, suffers from aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the valve opening due to calcification. Blood cannot flow normally. It can lead to heart failure.

Health First Cardiothoracic Surgeon Matthew Campbell, MD, began performing transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVRs) in July, 2015, at Health First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center.

Last year, The Heart Center at Holmes Regional celebrated its 1,000th successful TAVR procedure. This year the center is on track to perform almost 300 more.

Health First’s structural heart program offers a broad range of FDA-approved options for valvular heart disease, from minimally invasive surgical solutions to transcatheter ones such as TAVR, Mitraclip and more.

Radway of Palm Bay was home the next day. “I thought they would open my chest, but my cardiologist said, ‘No, we don’t do that anymore.’ ”

READ the full feature in Space Coast Daily HERE.