Robert Coe had an incredible journey, surviving against the odds. When he went in for a complex open heart operation to fix a large coronary artery aneurysm he already had a struggling heart. At the end of a difficult operation, his heart gave out leading to a cardiac arrest. He was urgently placed on a very specialised, high level of support called Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) by his Cardiothoracic Surgeon. Large amounts of blood are sucked out of the body where a pump oxygenates and removes carbon dioxide before sending the blood back at pressure into the aorta, effectively bypassing the heart to give it time to recover.
In addition to remaining on this high level of support for days in ICU, he also was kept in a coma on a ventilator, received dialysis and strong heart support medications among many interventions. He was finally well enough to be taken off this machine in theatre before starting his journey of recovery with a tracheostomy to help support his breathing. This tracheostomy was eventually taken out after rehabilitation on the ward.
Thanks to the tireless efforts from a team of doctors and nurses from multiple departments, Robert is able to return to his family.