The University of Kentucky’s Gill Heart Institute was forced to deal with an interesting issue this week when Mel and Tonya Ville returned to the hospital with a malpractice lawyer after Mel, 56, underwent a routine angioplasty but awoke from the surgery still unable to breathe underwater.

The Gill Heart Institute released this statement after the news came to light: Here at the Gill Heart Institute we aim to provide every patient with exceptionally compassionate care in the safest and most appropriate manner possible based on the best evidence and the latest technological advances, but in no way does that constitute a promise to give you some sort of fish organ that allows you to breathe underwater or swim faster.

While doctors were left scratching their heads at both the decision to want gills and the logistics of what it would take to implant them, Tonya and Mel said they would continue their quest. Tonya said she supported her husband’s desire to be a transphibian and she would always stand by her man Mel Ville.