Leslie Caoili, a 41-year-old mother of two and competitive strength athlete from Spring Valley near San Diego, went in for a routine heart checkup in May 2026. Doctors found a Type A aortic dissection — a tear in the main artery leaving the heart — and said she likely had only hours to live.

She was rushed into emergency surgery the same day, about 8½ hours of cardiopulmonary bypass and reconstruction of the aorta. Her husband, Amery Lee Caoili, told ABC 10News the operation saved her life. Most people with that injury die quickly if it is not repaired.

In the weeks after surgery she lost blood flow to her hands and feet. “By the end of the first month there, her hands and her feet were blackened and shriveled,” Lee said. Circulation did not return. Surgeons amputated both hands at mid-forearm and both legs. She spent months in the hospital. Lee said every day was a battle.

She was preparing for discharge. The family home was not yet accessible. Lee asked for skilled volunteers — electricians, HVAC, roofers, flooring, painters — to help renovate before she returned. “She just wants to come home to her family and her kids and her dog and me and wants to get back to living life as normal as we can make it for her.” A GoFundMe was set up for medical and home costs.

Caoili had competed in strength sports around San Diego and did not know she had a life-threatening aortic condition before the checkup.

Sources

• New York Post / California Post, Sheetal Banchariya, Aug. 23, 2026
• ABC 10News San Diego interview with Amery Lee Caoili
• Family GoFundMe updates
• Follow-up coverage in LADbible, UNILAD, CafeMom, The Mirror