The BBQ Report

After serving millions of them up to his patrons over the last 70 years, two pigs went from providing Melvin Bessinger’s livelihood to saving his life. Bessinger, the longtime South Carolina bar-b-que magnate and co-founder of the highly successful Melvin’s Bar-B-Que chain, recently found himself in need of heart valve replacement surgery. Ironically, the valves doctors use these days are taken from farm-raised pigs.

The surgery took place in January 2006 and the patient is doing great. Melvin’s family jokes that after years of stating how heart-healthy the ‘other white meat’ is, they can now prove it. Says David Bessinger, son and co-founder of the Melvin’s chain, “Dad always taught me to only serve the best pork to our customers but I guess he saved a little for himself.” Now out of the hospital and on the mend, Melvin is not surprised that the situation turned out the way it did. “Pork made me what I am, so I guess it is fitting that a pig saved my life.”