Rock from the Heart Aortic Health Symposium & Survivor Dinner

Pete Johnson got the idea  to combine his passion for music with education from top doctors while in a recovery room. “I had open heart surgery in 2017. I was told that I had a bicuspid aortic valve and an aneurism above that,” he said.

But all of the information Johnson came across talked about complications. “The internet is all doom and gloom, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, I wish there was some source out there that I could find to tell me about this, about the success stories,'” he said. “So I told my wife, Amy, and I said, ‘Hey, you know, once we’re on the other side of this, let’s do something musical to try and get people’s attention.'”

The event offers peace of mind by connecting patients and survivors with top surgeons from across the country to answer questions in a casual setting. “Rock from the Heart is as much a feeling as it is an event,” Johnson said.