Mended Hearts Install Lasting Tribute to Skipper Perry at USC Aiken

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AIKEN, SC (05/23/2018) Aiken Mended Hearts Chapter 294 and friends of one of Aiken's late icons, Robert "Skipper" Perry, dedicated a bio-step machine in Aiken Cardiac Rehabilitation in memory of the longtime public servant.

The cardiac rehab facility is a collaboration between Aiken Regional Medical Centers and the University of South Carolina Aiken. The equipment was installed in Perry's memory in the USC Aiken Wellness Center, where cardiac rehab takes place.

The former public servant died June 2017. During his career, Perry served as a state representative, an Aiken city councilman and Aiken mayor pro tempore. The Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce named him Man of the Year in 2016.

Mended Hearts 294 is a tremendous supporter of USC Aiken's students and programs. The local chapter is one of more than 300 similar chapters across the country whose members visit regularly with cardiovascular patients. In fact, Perry, a "devoted" member of Mended Hearts who served as past president of Chapter 294, was an accredited patient visitor.

Aiken Mended Hearts is affiliated with Aiken Regional Medical Centers and has been recognized in the most recent issue of Heartbeat Magazine for visiting more than 19,000 patients since organizing in 2001. This includes approximately 2,500 patients in 2017. The Aiken chapter was also recognized in 2009 as The Best Chapter in the United States. The group's meetings, which take place the second Friday of the month in the USC Aiken School of Nursing Miller Building, are open to the public.