Latest news with #lifesupport
BBC News
3 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Willenhall bystanders praised after man's cardiac arrest
Quick-thinking members of the public have been thanked for helping a man who suddenly became unwell in a town Midlands Air Ambulance and paramedics arrived at Market Place, Willenhall, in the West Midlands, to find police officers and bystanders using a defibrillator on a man who had suffered a cardiac arrest. Ambulance staff stepped in to take over resuscitation efforts and advanced life support and said they managed to successfully restart the man's heart before taking him by road to New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton.A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesperson praised those who helped in the medical emergency which occurred at about 11:00 BST. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
24-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'A heavy burden:' On Ben Askren's new life and what to expect after a double lung transplant
Ben Askren headed home from the hospital this week with a new set of lungs and a second chance at life. Or, depending on how you think about it, maybe it's more like a fourth or fifth chance, since that's about how many times he estimated he'd already died while in the hospital battling severe pneumonia linked to a staph infection. 'Amy, how close was I to dying?' Askren asked his wife in the car ride home while posting an update for his social-media followers. 'Too close,' she told him. 'A few times.' As recently as early June, Amy Askren had told those same social-media followers she was 'praying for a miracle.' Her husband — a retired MMA fighter, two-time NCAA national champion wrestler and former Olympian — was unconscious and hooked up to machines, including a ventilator and an ECMO device (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation — essentially a form of life support). The prognosis was dire. Askren needed a double lung transplant. If he didn't get it, he'd die. All over those combat sports sections of the internet, the support came in the form of prayers and fundraisers. Former opponent Jake Paul and UFC CEO Dana White, among others, contributed financial support. And then in late June, the miracle came. Amy Askren announced June 30 her husband had received a double lung transplant. 'We are forever thankful to the donor and his family,' she wrote on Facebook. 'This is the beginning of a new lifestyle for Ben, but every new day he has is a gift. It still doesn't feel real that he was walking around completely healthy just 5 weeks ago. So much can change so quickly.' But the challenges for Askren are still just beginning, according to Dr. Kirlos Haroun, a physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. As both a fight fan and a doctor, Haroun followed Askren's story closely. He's seen similar cases in his work as an emergency room physician and Johns Hopkins faculty member, he said, so he knows the risks lung transplant patients face. 'I've dealt with a lot of really acute lung injury, and I've dealt with transplant patients. The double lung transplant is this really complex last resort for very, very severe lung injuries,' Haroun told Uncrowned. "It's the only transplant that is exposed to the air with every breath, so it's exposed to the world at every moment. You combine that with pretty strong drugs, somebody who's immunocompromised, and your risk for infection every day is incredibly high.' There are two main threats for any lung transplant patient, according to Haroun. The first is that, as with any transplant, the body may reject the new organ. Medication can lower this risk — and transplant patients will need to remain on that medication for their entire lives — but it does so by suppressing the body's natural immune system. That leaves patients at higher risk of infection, but also vulnerable to diseases like cancer, Haroun said. 'Whenever I see a transplant patient in my ER, and they come in with a cough, the thought is always opportunistic infections. There are viruses, there are fungal infections, and then there's really bad drug-resistant bacteria,' Haroun said. 'Ben's going to be taking some very heavy immunosuppressive drugs just to let the transplant work. I mean, people with transplants, they live their lives, but there is always this concern. Anyone you're around can expose you to something. "I would be cautious about him even entering a gym, let alone rolling and wrestling just because of the infection risk. A skin abrasion can lead to a severe reinfection that can be life-threatening, and I think that's a really, really emotionally and mentally difficult thing beyond the physical risks he has.' One person who understands both the physical and emotional challenges is Jeffrey Pinard, who underwent a double lung transplant a little less than two years ago. Pinard was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a child, he said, so medical risks and challenges have essentially always been a part of his life. After dealing with multiple infections that affected his lungs, he was finally placed on the lung transplant list while in his early 50s. 'I was on the wait list about eight months,' Pinard said. 'I had to be taken off the wait list five different times because there was a question about going through with the transplant since I had such drug-resistant bugs in me. "No one told me this beforehand, thankfully, but I only had a few weeks to live when I finally got my lungs. When the surgeon cut into my lungs to start taking them out, they exploded. That was something they had never seen before. There was just so much infection packed in there.' Pinard knew more than most what to expect. As a college student, he'd studied genetics and microbiology at the University of Michigan. He was even an undergrad assistant on the research team led by geneticist Francis Collins who, in conjunction with Lap-Chee Tsui and his team at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, first isolated the gene for cystic fibrosis. Because of his experience with that disease, Pinard said, he was already well-accustomed to the sometimes drastic steps needed to avoid infection after the lung transplant. 'Everyone who has a cold is a threat to you,' Pinard said. 'Like, a mortal threat. Big crowds, things like that, you have to change your behavior so that you minimize your risk as much as possible. "The first year post-transplant is the hardest. That's when you're going to have the highest levels of steroids, prednisone and some of the other anti-rejection drugs. As you improve and your body gets used to the new lungs, then they can start tapering those off and then there will be a little bit less risk. But of course, that never goes away and you really have to balance the threat of infections with the threat of rejection.' But after reading about Askren, Pinard said, he does see reason for optimism. He was a relatively young man and healthy lifelong athlete with no major known comorbidities prior to the illness that necessitated the transplant. At the same time, there are more than just the physical adjustments to consider after such a dramatic life change. 'This transplant is so different for every single person,' Pinard said. 'I know people who've had it and were doing great within a month. I'm close to two years and I'm still struggling. But it's also about perspective. The year or so before my transplant, I was basically living on the couch, which isn't much of a life. Even getting up to make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich felt like an enormous task that took so much effort. So now, when I can do something like empty the dishwasher and it doesn't take every ounce of effort I have? It feels phenomenal. It makes me feel like a million dollars. But I don't know how he'll feel about that, having been an MMA fighter and an athlete. Being so strong and then having the rug pulled out from under you, it can be a shock.' There's also the looming question of mortality. Survival rates for lung transplant patients have steadily improved over the years, but Pinard noted the five-year survival rate for this procedure is still just a little over 50%. Recent statistics suggest slightly more than one-third of double lung transplant recipients are now making it past the 10-year mark. Some have lived 20 years or more after the procedure, but they are the exceptions. 'Psychologically, it is kind of a heavy burden. If you look at the statistics, 10% of double lung transplant patients die every year,' Pinard said. 'You can't help but see that you've got an expiration date.' Still, Pinard said, he sees more reason for optimism than pessimism in Askren's situation. His support system, his experience pushing through physical and emotional challenges, all the same things that made him successful as an athlete, these should serve Askren well in his new life, Pinard said. But make no mistake, he added, it is a new and different life awaiting the former fighter as he recovers from the transplant surgery. 'It will get better. That's the thing I'd say to Ben right now, is it will get better,' Pinard said. 'I wish I'd known that more. At first, every day can be very difficult to get through. You're learning how to breathe again with new lungs. You're learning how to get up and walk again. Some people are in a lot more pain than others after the surgery. But it will get better, so don't set deadlines for yourself or get disappointed if it takes longer than you expect. If it takes a year to get back to a stable place, that's fine.' As Askren lay in the hospital awaiting his transplant, he noted in one social-media post it was difficult at times to ward off negative feelings. Here he was, a man who hadn't smoked, had always tried to take care of his health, and now he needed new lungs just to have a chance at survival. 'I will not feel bad for myself,' Askren said at one point. Earlier this week, as he headed home, his message was one of gratitude. 'I said this already in one of my videos, but the support you guys gave me, whether it was sending a GoFundMe, whether it was helping my kids and wife get through it — I had friends from all over the country come to visit and hang out for a couple of days — it meant so much,' Askren said in one video. 'It was so great to just have all this support and all the love, and hopefully I'm not in this situation again for a really, really, really long time. I plan on living a while.'
Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS 90 Day Fiance star Eric Rosenbrook's baby dies after he is arrested for hitting his wife as she held the child
90 Day Fiancé star Eric Rosenbrook and his wife Leida Rosenbrook have lost their newborn baby girl Alisa Eleanor Rosenbrook. On Tuesday it was reported she died after being placed on life support for five days. This follows his arrest for slapping his wife Leida on the 4th of July when she was holding the child. 'It destroys me and shatters my world to announce that over the weekend, tragedy has struck,' he wrote on Facebook on July 10. 'Yesterday at 12:53 PM, after 5 days on life support, my beloved daughter, little Alisa Eleanor Rosenbrook, slipped the surely bonds to join her grandfather Tom.' Eric added that he isn't looking for 'well wishes or questions,' but instead, 'just prayers' for Alisa. Leida reportedly wrote on July 5, 'Dear God… You can take away my life, but do not take away my daughter's life…' This follows his arrest for slapping his wife Leida on the 4th of July when she was holding the child 'She just born,' the 36-year-old continued, 'God… If this is going to be my lesson to appreciate life since I've been struggling with suicidal thoughts then take away my trauma… Help. Me. Find. Peace. Help. Me. Forgive.' has reached out to Leida and Eric for comment and has not yet heard back. His arrest took place on the 4th of July in Adams, Wisconsin, reported TMZ on Friday. Eric confirmed the accusations to the site. The victim - Leida is not named in the document and the victim has gone under LNM but the site believes it's her - reportedly told authorities that Eric had been drinking when he went to pick up food, but did not return in a timely matter. The 35-year-old then noticed that Eric was 'passed out' in his car outside the apartment, which she allegedly videotaped, the site claimed. When she woke him, he came in the house and slapped her when she was holding their baby girl, it has been claimed. Rosenbrook was arrested and booked around 2am on July 5 and has been charged with misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct. The victim went into detail about the incident. She had said that when she woke Rosenbrook up in the car, she had their baby with her in her arms and he woke the child up, the site claimed. He reportedly then wanted to hold the baby but the victim said no because he was too drunk. That is when the reality TV star allegedly slapped the victim. The victim said she had been abused since they wed in 2018, the site reported. Eric went back to his car and fell asleep again, police told the site. The authorities said he admitted to hitting the alleged victim, the site added. TMZ spoke with Eric who admitted he did hit her when she was holding their daughter. But he said that he did not the child. However, he then decided to leave the apartment. And he shared that the fight has led to their split. Rosenbrook married Leida after meeting on 90 Day Fiancé during season six of the show. She filed for divorce last year, but her petition was withdrawn, it has been claimed. In 2019 he was linked to another ugly situation when he was accused of hitting Leida. The victim - Leida is not named in the document and the victim has gone under LNM - reportedly told authorities that Eric had been drinking when he went to pick up food, but did not return in a timely matter He explained his side of the altercation during an Instagram Live video for fans but denied he struck her. The wife claimed her husband pulled her hair and scratched her scalp during their fight. In the text messages, Leida claimed that Eric 'pulled my hairs really hard and grab it until I can stand up and grabbed my wrist both of them and put me on the corner.' In his video response, Eric disputed some of the details, but his account hued fairly close to Leida's original allegations. 'Leida and I had an altercation,' the reality star admitted. 'She was threatening self-harm, I wrestled a knife from her. But my training took over, it triggered my I went too far,' he explained. 'Nothing serious was caused, other than emotional trauma, which is severe. I may have scratched her scalp, I did not realize I did that. After I wrestled the knife from her, my training took over and the only thing I could think of was to restrain her.' 'It went too far,' continued Eric. 'I attempted to stand her up on her feet so I could look her in her face and restrain her wrists, but I pulled her up by her hair. She did not resist, had she resisted it may have snapped me back to reality and I would not have done it. I like to believe that I would not have continued to do it that way.' 'I do not excuse how it happened, I know I should've handled that differently,' continued the former Marine. 'After I stood her up I had to restrain her wrists, I was afraid of her hitting herself or myself. We argued and fought a little bit, not physically after that. 'I kept her against the wall in the kitchen, the corner as she says, it's not really a corner, it's just the end of the kitchen. And I kept her there because she would've had to pass the sink again and the knife, and knives, so I kept her there, I did not let her pass.' Eric went on to say that he had called the police at Leida's request, and that she had been taken to a hospital for an evaluation. He said he had offered to stay at a hotel to give her space, though it wasn't clear what their current living situation is. Neither Eric nor his wife seem to be disputing the most explosive part of the allegations, that Leida had a knife and was threatening to kill or harm herself. Leida's Instagram account posted an Instagram story referencing the fight. 'A domestic incident did take place between Eric and Leida on 1/20/19,' it read. 'The couple asked that you please respect their desire to keep things private at this time. #privacy #respect.'
The Independent
15-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Brain-dead Georgia woman put on life support for 3 months to carry fetus to birth because of abortion ban against her family's wishes
A brain-dead Georgia woman has reportedly been on life support for three months to carry a fetus to birth because of the state's abortion ban. Adriana Smith is a registered nurse at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. She was roughly nine weeks pregnant when she began having headaches in February. Smith, 30, went to Northside Hospital and was released after being handed some medication, her mother, April Newkirk, said, according to WXIA and CNN Newsource. 'They gave her some medication, but they didn't do any tests, didn't do any CT scans. If they did, they would have caught it,' she added. Smith's boyfriend noticed the following morning that something was very wrong. 'She was gasping for air in her sleep, gargling. More than likely, it was blood,' said Newkirk. After being taken to the hospital where she worked, a CT scan showed several blood clots in her brain, and doctors declared her brain dead. 'They asked me if I would agree to a procedure to relieve the pressure, and I said yes,' Newkirk said, according to 11Alive. 'Then they called me back and said they couldn't do it.' 'I feel like somebody dropped the ball at the hospitals, and her boyfriend asked, 'Please keep her.' If she was kept at the hospital, we wouldn't be here,' Newkirk added. More than three months later, Smith is still on life support, and the family says they weren't given any options for her care because of the state's heartbeat law, which outlaws abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, which usually takes place after around six weeks of pregnancy. 'It's torture for me. I come here, and I see my daughter breathing on a ventilator, but she's not there,' Newkirk said. Newkirk said that she brings Smith's young son to see her, and that he thinks she's just sleeping. The health of the unborn child remains unclear, 21 weeks into the pregnancy. Smith was moved to another hospital, Emory Midtown, on Tuesday. Doctors told the family it's better equipped for the care she needs. The plan is for Smith to remain on life support until the child can live outside the womb, likely at about 32 weeks of pregnancy. 'She's pregnant with my grandson, but my grandson may be blind, may not be able to walk, wheelchair-bound. We don't know if he'll live once she has him,' Newkirk said, according to WXIA. 'It should have been left up to the family.' Smith's case has opened up a legal gray area regarding the state's heartbeat law. It includes some exceptions, such as for rape, incest, or if the mother's life is at risk. As Smith is brain-dead and no longer viewed as being at risk herself, the medical staff is required by law to keep her alive until the baby can live outside the womb. The family said doctors told them the law doesn't allow them to consider other alternatives. 'I think every woman should have the right to make their own decision, and if not, then their partner or their parents,' said Newkirk. 'I'm not saying we would have chosen to terminate her pregnancy, but what I'm saying is we should have had a choice.' 'This decision should've been left to us. Now we're left wondering what kind of life he'll have—and we're going to be the ones raising him," she added, according to 11Alive. The family is also concerned about the financial ramifications, as the medical bills keep piling up. 'They're hoping to get the baby to at least 32 weeks,' said Newkirk. 'But every day that goes by, it's more cost, more trauma, more questions.'
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Mother let friend take adorable seven year-old son to swimming pool...then the unthinkable happened
A seven-year-old boy has been left on life support after his mom let her friend take him swimming, when he nearly drowned. Lauren Hill-Wilson, from Wichita, Kansas, says she had entrusted an unnamed friend with her son ZJ while she was at work last Thursday. The unnamed friend said she would take the little boy swimming, with Hill-Wilson receiving a 911 call hours later saying ZJ was being rushed to hospital. The youngster had been swimming inside the Red Roof Inn when authorities had to be called after he went underwater and did not resurface. Speaking to KSN, Hill-Wilson said: 'They said it was my child, my ZJ. I just broke down, and I just screamed, and I cried. 'They said my baby had died twice, and they brought him back and got him a heartbeat, but it's just his brain.' According to Hill-Wilson, her son is still on life support nearly a week after the horrific incident and has yet to wake up. She also claimed to the outlet that she has been left in the dark about what happened and how her son ended up nearly drowning. First responders on the scene they arrived to find a child that had gone underwater, they immediately administered life-saving measures including CPR, a statement said. The Wichita Police Department said that they are still investigating the incident and are still looking to determine what happened. Department Sergeant Atlee Vogt said: 'What we initially learned that kids were swimming and playing in the pool. 'There were other children and parents that were with the child here at the facility.' As their probe continues, Hill-Wilson said she is praying her son recovers and for further clarity. She also said his siblings have been questioning his absence. She added: 'My 4-year-old actually asks me every time he sees me where his brother is at. 'Today, I let him talk to his brother, and he kept saying "ZJ! ZJ!". He's not responding.' First responders on the scene they arrived to find a child that had gone underwater, they immediately administered life-saving measures including CPR. The pool area in the hotel is seen here A GoFundMe has since been set up to help the family out with ZJ's recovery, it can be found here. It has raised over $3,000 as of Wednesday. In a post to the fundraiser, organizer Taysia Wilson said: 'ZJ is a loving boy, 7 years old, and the eldest of 5. 'He loves having quality time with his siblings and close relatives! During his hospital stay, he has shown signs of improvement.' Wilson said they are fundraising to help his mom pay any hospital bells not covered by insurance and any possible legal fees.
