An assembly and method for implanting a graft in a blood vessel of a patient including a graft having proximal and distal ends, with an expandable mesh positioned adjacent one of the ends and a cover extending from the proximal to distal ends. The graft may have a proximal removable sheath disposed over a portion of the graft corresponding to the proximal end and a distal removable sheath disposed over a portion of the graft corresponding to the distal end. Each sheath may be configured to compress the graft to an insertion diameter relative to a deployed diameter. The graft may be deployed by inserting the distal end of the graft through an opening in a wall of the blood vessel, removing the distal sheath and expanding the distal end of the graft from the insertion diameter to the deployed diameter to secure the graft within the blood vessel.
