I went into cardiac arrest after delivering my baby — and got a second chance at motherhood.
When you’ve already had children, you walk into the hospital expecting the familiar.
That’s exactly how I felt on February 16 when my husband, Keith, and I arrived at Pratt Regional Medical Center to welcome our third daughter. We already had two girls at home, and this was a scheduled C-section. Calm. Planned. Routine.
Our baby girl, Kiley, was born healthy and perfect.
And then everything changed.
Not long after delivery, I started having serious complications. I lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest. As a mom, it’s hard to even process those words now.
While I don’t remember much from those first terrifying moments, I know the medical team immediately started CPR and worked for several minutes to revive me. Doctors later discovered I had suffered a massive saddle pulmonary embolism — a dangerous blood clot that was blocking blood flow through my heart and lungs.
Within minutes, I was being prepared for transport to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. While I was fighting for my life, my husband was suddenly facing the unimaginable: welcoming our daughter into the world while not knowing if I would survive.
“It all got serious so quickly,” Keith said later. “You just never expect something like that after having healthy pregnancies before.”
As I was airlifted to Wichita, specialists at Wesley were already preparing for my arrival. Their ECMO team had been called in — something I had never even heard of before all of this happened.
ECMO, short for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, is an advanced life-support machine that temporarily takes over the work of the heart and lungs. It gave my body the chance to rest while doctors worked to remove the clot that nearly took my life.
Everything moved fast once I arrived.
Doctors placed me on ECMO and performed a thrombectomy to remove the clot. Thankfully, the procedure worked. Within days, my condition improved dramatically.
Just three days after being flown to Wichita, I was able to go home.
Even now, it’s difficult to fully explain what it feels like to wake up and realize how close you came to not making it back to your family.
I was weak. Exhausted. Emotional. And honestly, incredibly grateful. As the medications wore off and reality started sinking in, one thought kept hitting me repeatedly: I get to go home to my children. There was one fear that lingered in the back of my mind, though. I worried I had somehow missed those first bonding moments with Kiley.
As moms, we put so much pressure on ourselves to be there for every second — especially in those early newborn hours. I wondered if being unconscious and separated from her would affect our connection.
But the moment I was finally able to hold her and settle into life at home, those fears faded.
“It’s like I was never gone at all,” I tell people now.
And honestly, that feels like the greatest gift of all.
This experience changed me in ways I’m still discovering. It changed how I see motherhood, family, faith, and even the small everyday moments I used to rush through.
I also carry overwhelming gratitude for the people who helped save my life — from the team in Pratt to the specialists in Wichita. The doctors, nurses, and technicians weren’t just caring for me medically; they were caring for my husband, my children, and our future together.
Some of those relationships have lasted beyond the hospital walls. We still stay in touch with several members of my care team because when people walk with you through the hardest day of your life, you don’t forget them.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned through all of this, it’s this: Life can change in seconds. But so can hope.
Haley Prosser is a mom of three, and lives in Pratt.
Learn more about women’s care at Wesley Healthcare.
When the unexpected happens, you can count on Wesley Healthcare to be here for you. Our five ERs offer 24/7 kid and adult emergency care close to home. Find an ER near you at WesleyMC.com/ER.
For the most advanced pediatric care, Wesley Children’s Hospital offers pediatric specialists, a family-friendly pediatric unit, pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and the region’s only pediatric emergency room lose to home.
