College Athlete's Post-Surgery Heart Scare: Hannah's ECMO Experience

Watch Hannah share her story

Following what was supposed to be a routine foot surgery following a collegiate softball injury, Hannah was in the process of recovering and preparing to return to training.

Around this time, however, her leg wasn’t feeling quite right. That’s when her parents woke up in the middle of the night to their worst nightmare.

“My wife woke suddenly around 2 o’clock in almost an anxious state,” said James Burton, Hannah’s father. “And she heard Hannah out in the living room making some strange noise—I heard her yell out that Hannah wasn’t breathing and so I came out and called 911.”

When emergency services arrived, they were able to start CPR, but Hannah was still slipping in and out of responsiveness after they were able to restart a pulse.

“When I was found unresponsive, I remember all of that,” she said. “I remember waiting on the squad to get there, getting them in the house, getting me on the cot and going out again—I just remember every single part of it.”

Hannah was taken by ambulance to Highland District Hospital, the closest to the Burton’s home.

“They determined it was a very large pulmonary embolism and was very life-threatening,” said James. “They needed to get her out and get intervention at a larger hospital—our first choice was Bethesda North, and they arranged a MedFlight to come get her.”

With the right side of Hannah’s heart failing, the situation was urgent and the team at TriHealth Bethesda North knew they would have to get to work right away caring for her.

“When I met her in the ICU, she was fairly stable but needed to undergo a high-risk procedure to get that clot out of her lungs,” said Dr. Kathryn O’Keefe, TriHealth cardiothoracic surgeon. “And so, we talked about using ECMO to help mechanically support her heart, which was really struggling at the time.”

She continued: “ECMO stands for Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation—it’s basically a heart-lung bypass machine that is used to help people that are either in heart failure or lung failure or both to help fully support their body while we figure out a strategy to help them get better.”

Hannah said that her care team treated her like family.

“The said that they were gonna treat me like their own—and I truly felt that from every single person that I encountered.”

Hannah’s parents, despite being obviously shaken by this experience with his daughter, were also reassured by the actions and demeanor of the staff.

“One thing that we were impressed with was that they helped us maintain feeling confident they were going to be able to take care of her,” James said.

Usage of ECMO is relatively rare, and it is generally reserved as a last resort intervention for those who go on. Dr. O’Keefe, however, is quick to point out that just because it is used as a late-stage intervention, doesn’t mean that going on ECMO means a patient is beyond help.

“If you’re on ECMO, it’s managed properly and you minimize complications, you can have a very good outcome,” she said. “And that’s what we really strive for at Bethesda North.”

In only a few days, the Burtons became familiar and comfortable with the Bethesda North team.

“The second night, we felt so confident in the CVICU staff that we were able to go to a local hotel and get a few hours of sleep that we hadn’t had in almost 48 hours,” said James.

Once she was taken off ECMO, Hannah was left on a ventilator for a few days to ensure her lung strength.

“I feel pretty much back to normal, though I still have some small obstacles to overcome,” said Hannah, in great spirits now with this ordeal mostly behind her.

“We never felt like we couldn’t ask questions and make suggestions—we did feel part of the team,” James said. “With the physicians and surgeons that work here, we felt confident that she was going to be taken care of, and it saved Hannah’s life.”

TriHealth is proud of its Mechanical Circulatory Support Program, which is able to help patients with serious conditions using advanced medical technologies such as ECMO. To learn more about the TriHealth Heart & Vascular Institute, click here.