From Bad Beats to Unreal Good Luck
They learned of their condition when they were 17.

"Initially, they looked at everything but my heart," Cornwall said. "Then one physician said, 'Hey, we need to do an EKG.' And then found that it was pretty bad."

Two years later, her luck was about to turn again, back to the good.

A heart was available. She was a match.

"You go on a national waiting list and then, depending on if a donor comes in and how sick you are and where you are on that list, they'll match depending on tissue type, blood type, all that stuff,” Cornwall said.

So, like any roll of the dice, probability veered toward unlikely but never impossible. And Cornwall — unlike thousands who need a heart every year but are left waiting — well, her number came up, a chance of about 1 out of 10. She was 19.

Emily? She was transplanted a year later.

Identical twins. Identical conditions. Identical outcomes, with hearts for each. That celestial connection twins share that the rest of us can only imagine, both hitting astronomical odds.

Hit Me Again
They stayed close to home for college, attending Nevada-Reno. Chelsey studied biology. Emily majored in marketing. After brief sojourns to the Bay Area and Arizona, Chelsey moved back to Reno to manage the area’s cardiac rhythm management needs — think pacemakers and implanted defibrillators, a recurrent theme in her life — for Abbott.

And her partner at the company doing the same job in the same region? Emily.

What are the odds?

Well, after about six years with her first transplant, they weren't great for Chelsey's new heart. It kept slowing down, leaving her feeling dizzy and sweaty.

"I did great for a while. I was back to my normal self," Cornwall said. "But fast-forward several years, my heart rate just dropped. My hands got really cold. I felt like I was going to pass out." 

Her heart was developing fibrosis. Her body was rejecting it. Her new heart's arteries would spasm and it would ... just ... pause.

Bum luck. She needed a new heart. Again. She hit. Again.

But then her second — no, third — heart developed its own rhythm issues.

The Rhythm of an Active Life
This time, it wasn't the plumbing that was causing the trouble. It was the electrical system.

The fix came in a trial for our new Aveir VR leadless pacemaker, the novel device that eliminates the need for the leads that can break and short leading from the battery to the heart. It's the only leadless pacemaker in the world that's designed to be retrievable as a person's heart needs change. 

Cornwall had to meet indications for the revolutionary pacemaker's global clinical trial.

And since her pacer went in? She's felt like herself again.

"I'm an active person. I like to walk my dogs, ride the Peloton, go to the gym and lift weights," Cornwall said. "And then, when I'm working, I'm on my feet all day."

She's 40 now — that's about 15 years with her most recent heart, if you're counting — and that alone beats the likelihoods for people living more than 10 years with a transplant. It's little more than a coin flip at this point.

Chelsey Cornwall is not bothered.

"Honestly, I don't think about — despite the heart transplants and despite having a pacemaker — I really don’t think much about it. (Aveir) has allowed me to go on with my life and do my thing and not have to worry about anything," Cornwall said.

She's busy. She's got big plans, including preparing for her wedding.

"I recently got engaged," Cornwall said. "I'm happy with where I'm at in life just continuing doing what I'm doing. I love being in the field. I love taking care of patients. I love being in procedures, doing all of that stuff."

Aces High on Life ... with a Safety Net
For all of its new technology, Aveir is that hand Chelsey has gone all-in with.

"I don't have to worry about my heart stopping in the middle of the night. Or feeling like I’m going to pass out," Cornwall said. "It's there when I need it. It’s a safety net. It catches me."

And Emily? Her transplanted heart is still going strong. Emily doesn't have a pacemaker but she has needed ablation to fix some minor rhythm issues. They're identical, not clones.

"She's done very well," Cornwall said. "She's had some arrythmias with her transplant that they've had to go in and get rid of them. But otherwise her transplant has been very stable."

Together, they're beating odds.

They're hitting on 19. And 20. Who does that and wins?

A couple of aces named Chelsey and Emily.

So next time you’re heading to Vegas, take a detour to Reno to see if lady luck is available for the ride. Odds are you’ll be glad you did.