Lori McCullough cried as she hugged workers at Edwards Lifesciences, her voice quivering as she thanked them, telling them, “My husband is here because of you.”

Her husband, Ben McCullough, suffered from tricuspid regurgitation, so one of his heart valves wasn’t closing tightly enough, allowing blood to flow backward. The condition caused McCullough to grow gradually weaker and robbed the former runner of his mobility.

  • Ben McCullough hugs Elizabeth Garcia as he visits Edwards Lifesciences...
    Ben McCullough hugs Elizabeth Garcia as he visits Edwards Lifesciences in Irvine, CA, on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Garcia is part of the valve team who stitched together the actual EVOQUE tricuspid replacement valve in his heart. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Ben McCullough hugs Elizabeth Garcia as he visits Edwards Lifesciences in Irvine, CA, on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Garcia is part of the valve team who stitched together the actual EVOQUE tricuspid replacement valve in his heart. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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In November, the 75-year-old former Navy pilot received an EVOQUE valve made by the Irvine-based company. On Wednesday, March 26, he met the 25 workers who spent 20 hours hand-sewing 2,000 stitches to make the device.

Surgeons snaked up through his femoral vein to insert the replacement valve inside the damaged heart. The procedure is less invasive than open-heart surgery.

Ben McCullough was out of the hospital after a day, saying, “I felt great.”

Meeting the people who made the device that saved his life “is absolutely surreal,” McCullough said. “I feel a lot of gratitude to actually be here and hug them.”

The device, made from bovine pericardial tissue and metal was developed at Edward Lifescience and approved by the FDA in February 2024.

Interventional cardiologists Dr. Brian Kolski and Dr. Jeffrey Tyler performed the procedure at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Orange.