Levittown 'Santa' thanks NYU Langone doctors for fixing his heart

Sometimes, even Santa Claus needs help to keep the holiday spirit.

Almost three weeks after undergoing heart surgery at NYU Langone in Mineola, Larry Burke, 74, an avid Santa Claus enthusiast, returned to the hospital Wednesday with his wife, Katherine Burke, 74, aka Mrs. Claus. There, he thanked the hospital staff who cared for him and spread holiday cheer to hospitalized kids.

"It’s my Christmas miracle," Burke said.

In 2012, Burke underwent open heart surgery to have his leaking aortic valve replaced. A new valve has a life span of about 10 years, and so it was no surprise that Burke’s had begun to leak last month, the health care professionals said.

Burke, a retired educator of 44 years who plays Santa each year to pediatric patients at NYU Langone, said that over the course of several months he slowly found it hard to catch his breath and felt fatigued.

"I couldn't lie on my side in bed at night," Burke said. "I would get up from the bed to the bathroom, come back and be exhausted."

As the severity of his symptoms grew, Burke's cardiologist and health care team decided to proceed with surgery. Unlike his previous invasive surgery, Burke underwent a transcatheter aortic valve replacement or TAVR, a minimally invasive procedure on Nov. 24.

"I had a whole lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving," Burke said.

The procedure, which was approved for lower risk patients in 2019, involves a surgeon inserting two tubes, or catheters, into the groin and guiding one to the heart. A folded replacement valve inside the catheter is then placed securely within the old valve.

The entire procedure took about 45 minutes, Dr. Darko Boljevic, an interventional cardiologist who performed the procedure, said. Within 24 hours, Burke was up and about and returned home.

"The recovery was so remarkable, and the change in him ... and how he behaved ... was just amazing to me that this could be done in such a simple, uninvasive way," Katherine Burke, a retired cardiac nurse, said.

Larry Burke said he was "terrified" to endure the procedure and afraid he would not be able to perform his duties as Santa Claus.

But standing outside among reporters, hospital staff and Mrs. Claus, Burke said he couldn’t ask for better results.

The Burkes said that for a "number of years" they have volunteered to play the North Pole couple with nonprofit Project Thank A Cop to deliver toys to children at NYU Langone.

"There is nothing better for the heart than the smiles of little kids," Burke said.

Outside the lobby of the emergency room at NYU Langone in Mineola, the sound of Burke’s "Ho, ho, ho’s" turned heads and brought hospital staff and patients to the windows.

Wearing a red and white headband, patient Lucia Gallo, 3, along with her family and hospital staff, met Santa and Mrs. Claus on the entrance ramp, her eyes widening at the sight of them holding two large gift bags, with presents for the children and hospital staff.

Inside the bags were gifts that included books, an Elsa doll, an American Girl doll and Spiderman toys for Lucia’s brother.

Later on, "Santa" waved to children in isolation, looking down from windows on the pediatric ICU. Burke also greeted children of hospital staff through video message.

"I’ll see you next week," he said to them.

Hospital staff said they did not know until postsurgery that Burke was the man who played Santa Claus at the hospital, let alone that they had received gifts from Santa.

"I’ve been hospitalized a number of times in my life, but every time you get more empathy for the kids," Burke said. "I hate to see sick kids and seeing them smile really does my heart well."