A Heartbeat Away: The Miraculous Recovery Powered by ECMO

Norman Summerill began his morning like any other, chatting with his wife about their plans for the day. However, for the past week, the 69-year-old had been experiencing discomfort in his mouth. It felt like a minor sinus infection was spreading into his teeth, but he brushed it off since he didn’t feel sick.

That all changed on July 23. Norman’s chest began to tighten more as the morning progressed. He soon realized the jaw pain he felt was something serious.

He started experiencing tingling sensations in his arms, warning signs he couldn’t ignore anymore. Concerned about his health, he and his wife quickly headed to the UF Health Shands Emergency Room.

When they arrived, Mrs. Summerill instructed him to go ahead and check in while she found parking. Before she stepped through the door, she was notified that Norman had collapsed as he was talking to the triage nurse. He had gone into cardiac arrest, requiring emergency resuscitation.

“I went into the lobby, and I didn’t see him in there, so I texted him to let him know that I was in the lobby,” Mrs. Summerill said. “Then, one of the nurses came out and asked who was here with him, and that’s when I found out that he had gone into cardiac arrest.”

With valuable time fleeting, the UF Health emergency medicine team swiftly prepared to stabilize Norman. This was a critical turning point in his care.

“Our nurses immediately realized that he was in cardiac arrest and began chest compressions,” said Torben K. Becker, MD, a critical care medicine specialist. “They then moved him back to the resuscitation area of the emergency department, where the team of doctors, nurses and technicians continued with the full resuscitation process. They also recognized that he was a candidate for ECPR, or extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation.”

In the ER, Dr. Becker and anesthesiologist Marc Maybauer, MD, placed Norman on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO. He was then taken to the catheterization lab, where Ellen Keeley, MD, opened a blocked blood vessel around his heart and placed a small, temporary heart pump called an Impella device to assist the ECMO machine.

Norman was extubated the next day. Once he woke up, he learned about how close he had come to death.

Norman’s recovery highlights how ECPR saves lives.

“Professionally, I think what stands out about this case is the system of care that we built here at UF Health, where not only do we have the capacity and capability to do this procedure, but we also have the people who can immediately recognize when a patient is a potential candidate for ECPR,” Dr. Becker said. “We also have teams of experts that provide the ongoing care needed to ensure successful outcomes. Patients who meet the criteria for ECPR, just as Mr. Summerill did, have an almost zero chance of survival without ECMO. But with this technology, we can save 50% of patients.”

Despite having a family history of heart conditions, Norman had never experienced any major heart issues himself.

“It was surreal because he’s very healthy and active, so the last thing that either of us would ever expect would be that he had any kind of heart disease,” Mrs. Summerill said. “Doctors had regularly told him he had the heartbeat of a 20-year-old.”

Both retired from journalism and communications, the Summerills recently moved back to the U.S. after living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They chose to settle near Gainesville because of the high-quality care at UF Health, a decision they now know made all the difference.

“You can’t hesitate on decisions like this, because you might have minutes between life and death,” Norman said.

Without any close family nearby, they heavily rely on each other for support. Norman expressed gratitude for the medical technology that saved his life.

“If I had to do CPR at home, I wouldn’t be able to stop,” Mrs. Summerill said. “I wouldn’t have had any way to call for help. It’s so frightening. Luckily, that didn’t happen because we have UF Health.”

Norman was discharged on Aug. 8 and plans to continue physical therapy and complete his wound care as part of his recovery.

Looking ahead, the Summerills are hopeful about returning to the activities they love, including traveling. This time, they’ll make some necessary adjustments to their diet and lifestyle. Most meaningfully, they’re looking forward to celebrating Norman’s 70th birthday, which coincided with his discharge date, a milestone that now holds even deeper significance.