Wichita, KS -- The birth of a child is usually a joyful, life-changing moment.
Keith and Haley Prosser knew that feeling well. With two young daughters at home, they arrived at Pratt Regional Medical Center on Feb. 16 expecting a routine delivery. Haley was scheduled for a C-section, and nothing about the day suggested anything out of the ordinary.
The procedure went as planned, and their daughter, Kiley, was born healthy and strong.
Soon after, everything changed.
Haley began experiencing serious complications. She lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest.
“It’s definitely not something you’re expecting,” Keith says of his wife’s condition. “Having had two children, you just expect everything to go smoothly, so it was quite a shock when her condition got serious so quickly.”
The care team immediately began CPR. After about eight minutes, Haley’s heart started beating again. But her blood pressure had dropped to a dangerous level and required medication to stabilize it.
A CT scan revealed the cause: a saddle pulmonary embolism—a life-threatening blood clot blocking blood flow through the heart. Without rapid intervention, the condition can quickly lead to heart failure and cardiac arrest.
Recognizing the urgency, Haley’s physicians acted quickly.
“Haley’s physician in Pratt called us within minutes of reviving her, recognizing that she would likely need a higher level of care than they could provide,” Dr. Jonathon Davis, a critical care specialist at Wesley Medical Center, said. “He and I exchanged phone numbers and were in continuous conversation about how she was doing as they prepared to transfer her to Wesley.”
For Keith, the decision was immediate and clear.
“We had multiple doctors involved by then, but there was never any question about where they were going to send her,” Keith said. “From the very beginning, they knew that Wesley was where she would get the care she needed.”
As Haley was prepared for transport, her care team shared critical information with Dr. Davis. Based on her condition, he quickly mobilized Wesley’s ECMO team.
ECMO — Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation — uses a specialized machine to circulate and oxygenate blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest and recover.
“There were ongoing discussions between several intensivists, CT surgery and the interventional radiologist to determine the best way forward,” Dr. Davis said. “The difficulty with massive pulmonary embolisms is that the risk of having another cardiac arrest is quite high and unpredictable. In the face of such uncertainty, the safest path forward was to place her on venoarterial ECMO to ensure her heart was strong enough to withstand treatment.”
Dr. Davis spoke with Keith while Haley was in transit, explaining the potential need for ECMO and what to expect.
“Once she arrived, things would move very quickly,” he said, “so I wanted Keith to clearly understand all of the potential treatment options.”
When Haley arrived at Wesley, the team acted immediately. She was placed on ECMO, and within minutes, her blood pressure stabilized enough to come off medication.
“The real beauty of venoarterial ECMO for massive pulmonary embolisms is that it bypasses the heart,” Dr. Davis said. “So even if her heart were to stop beating again, she would still be getting blood flow and oxygen to her brain.”
With her condition stabilized, physicians were able to move forward with a thrombectomy — a minimally invasive procedure to remove the clot.
The procedure was successful, and Haley’s condition improved significantly. She remained on ECMO through the next day, giving her heart time to recover.
“Haley had a mechanical problem that was solved by the thrombectomy,” he said. “The venoarterial ECMO was just a bridge to be able to perform that procedure safely, and was ideal for the circumstances. In my opinion, it was a great case of ECMO being used successfully.”
On Feb. 17, Haley was taken off ECMO. After another day in the ICU and one more on the women’s floor, she was discharged — just three days after being flown by helicopter to Wichita.
For Haley, much of the experience is still a blur.
“I was so weak and medicated that I really didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “But as I recovered, I very quickly recognized how lucky I was. I’m so grateful that we were in the right place at the right time with the right people.”
For Keith, the emotional impact remains vivid.
“I wouldn’t wish what happened to us on anyone,” he said. “But I was able to lean into my faith and our families to get through it. Having been through this experience, we both view things a lot differently now. When people are going through something, it just sits differently with us than it used to, because we’ve been where they are.”
He continues to reflect on the care they received.
“From start to finish, I have zero complaints about the entire experience, both in Pratt and at Wesley,” Keith said. “The way all of the doctors, nurses and technicians worked together to take care of Haley — and me, for that matter — was absolutely amazing.”
Haley agrees, noting the lasting connections they formed.
“We have personal phone numbers for several of them, and are friends with many others on Facebook,” she said. “You don’t go through something like that without building a bond with people.”
But for Haley, one bond matters most.
“I was a little nervous about bonding with Kiley, since I wasn’t there right after she was born,” she said. “But it’s like I was never gone at all.”