Larry King Cardiac Foundation: Health Story
Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, July 29 and September 16, 2007
Show 418
It all started 20 years ago when talk show host Larry King had a heart attack, an event that changed his life for the better and opened his eyes to the challenges many people have getting access to high quality medical care. "Somebody asked, 'What did your bypass cost?' And I said I didn't know-- insurance paid it all. And so we got to thinking, what about people who don't have insurance? How do they have bypass surgery? And we found out a lot of them don't. And a lot of them die," says King. After that, the Larry King Cardiac Foundation was created, helping many people in need get quality cardiac care. Like Melanie Usher Maleombho, a mother of four who needed life-saving heart valve replacement surgery. "I knew it was serious. I was just hoping to hang on because of my children," says Melanie. With no insurance and little money, Melanie was extremely thankful to receive help from the foundation. "It's a miracle. They gave me back the life," says Melanie.