CHAMBERSBURG – Hours before ushering in 2025, 18-year-old Faith was helping her father, Troy, prepare for their New Year’s Eve party. Soon, their home would be filled with friends and family, as well as fresh cookies baked in the oven, filling the house with a warm, sweet aroma.
Meanwhile, Faith’s mother, Melissa, was working her shift at WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital, where she works as a clinical nurse educator on the medical surgical unit.
Ding! Ding! Ding! The timer on the oven rang, so the cookies were ready. When Troy returned from store to get supplies for Faith, the timer was ringing, but Faith was not around, and Troy went to find her. What he never expected was to find Faith collapsed on the bathroom floor, suffering from cardiac arrest.
He immediately began CPR and called 9-1-1. Faith was rushed to WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital. Faith had a pre-existing heart condition that caused irregular heartbeats. This night, her extra heart beats did not stop causing ventricular fibrillation (v-fib). While Faith would regularly see a cardiologist to help treat this pre-existing heart issue, no one can prepare a family for a moment like this.
Life-saving resources during Faith’s brief two-day stay at WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital, Melissa and Troy faced heartbreaking conversations including whether their daughter would survive. At one point, they weren’t sure if she would ever wake up. In Faith’s case, both her heart and lungs needed support, so she was transferred to WellSpan York Hospital to receive a higher level of care and her last chance for hope: ECMO.
ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, temporarily takes over the function of the heart or lungs, giving them time to heal.
“ECMO is one of the most advanced forms of life support currently offered in the world for people suffering from severe failure of the heart or lungs, or sometimes both,” said Dr. Omair Chaudhary, medical director of extracorporeal life support at WellSpan York Hospital.
“Essentially, ECMO drains the blood from the vein, and then we push the blood through an oxygenator, putting oxygen into the blood and removing carbon dioxide. After that, we pump the blood back into the patient’s artery.”
On ECMO, Faith said she couldn’t see her surroundings but was aware of sounds and voices, enabling her to form bonds with her care team. She recalls one of her care team experts, Andrew, who she jokingly called “Toes” because of his funny slippers that always made her smile. Then there was Dakota, a nurse who spoke to her as if she were fully awake. And, how could she forget about Reacher, the yellow, community engagement K-9 lab, offering support along the way?
