CLEARWATER, Fla. — Walking the halls at BayCare's Morton Plant hospital, Connie and Ronnie Beck are stopped every few minutes to hug a passing nurse. 

“Look how much you have healed! Can I give you a hug?" said a nurse to Connie. 

Connie had to spend two weeks there at the end of last year. 

“Well everyone is going to be happy to see you," said the same nurse. 

What You Need To Know

  • An aortic dissection is a serious condition in which a tear occurs in the inner layer of the body's main artery (aorta). Blood rushes through the tear, causing the inner and middle layers of the aorta to split (dissect). If the blood goes through the outside aortic wall, aortic dissection is often deadly

  • Connie was rushed to BayCare's Morton Plant Hospital where a team of doctors and staff helped save her life

  • Hypertension is most often the cause of aortic dissection

  • Learn more about BayCare's Heart and Vascular services and team

The Becks were then greeted by close to ten nurses who wanted to say hi. They all helped her when she was going through an aortic dissection.

“It makes me kind of tear up, it’s emotional,” said Connie, looking at all the faces who helped save her. 

“You are the reason why I know all of us do this, because we love seeing complex miracles like you walk back through the door,” said another nurse. 

Back in November 2023, Connie experienced extreme back pain when she woke up and then struggled to walk. Ronnie took her to BayCare’s St. Anthony’s Hospital and after a CT scan, they sent her to Morton Plant quickly. 

“The aorta should be three layers, all laminated together as one, and instead what you are seeing here is the layers have fallen apart,” said Dr. Josh Rovin, cardiovascular surgeon and director of the Structural Heart Center at Morton Plant Hospital.

Rovin points to a scan of Connie’s heart during the aortic dissection. He was one of the team that helped stop the dissection from killing her. 

“Time matters. They say the mortality rate is roughly increased by one percent per hour during the delay,” said Rovin. 

Connie’s case was more complicated than most, too. 

“She experienced a tear in her aorta, which then essentially unravels,” said Dr. John Ofenloch, director of cardiovascular surgery at Morton Plant Hospital.

Rovin and Ofenloch, plus a team of others, replaced Connie’s aorta, put stent graphs in place to establish good blood flow to the rest of her body, and then removed all the residual tears and dissections that went to her arms and neck. 

It was not an easy surgery, but it ended successfully. 

“A great scenario for her,” Rovin said. “We were able to spare and save her native aortic valve. Which is great, there is no better valve than the one you are born with.”

“Every day gets a little better,” said Connie. 

She knows how stacked the odds were against her. 

“I figure my mission on this earth is not finished,” Connie said. “I am meant to pester a few more people before I go. Yeah, that’s probably the case.”

Both doctors said that if people develop severe or sudden back discomfort that they cannot get away from, that can be a marker for an aortic dissection. The best line of defense is getting yearly basic checkups to monitor hypertension.