TaVaughn Taylor, born with a congenital heart defect, is a tough little guy. Four months after whew as born, he underwent surgery at the Mary Bridge Pediatric Heart Center, where a temporary band was placed around his pulmonary artery. At the age of nine months, he endured a second surgery to have the band removed and a hole in his heart closed. His condition remained stable until a few days later when his lungs suddenly collapsed, leading to heart failure.

TaVaughn’s only hope for survival was Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), a procedure that uses an artificial heart-lung machine to take over the work of these organs when other treatments fail. Fortunately, Mary Bridge Children’s Foundation has purchased an ECMO machine only two months prior. “Had it not been there,” says TaVaughn’s mother, Dee Dee Taylor, “he would have died.” The specially trained Extracorporeal Life Support team- led by Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Ronald Woods and Pediatric Intensivist Dr. Brian Boville – launched into action to save their first ECMO patient.

During treatment, the ECMO machine pumps blood out of the body and circulates it through an artificial lung, where oxygen is added and carbon dioxide is removed. Then the oxygenated blood is warmed before it’s pumped back into the patient.

Within two days of receiving ECMO, TaVaughn’s condition improved dramatically and he was taken off the machine. “I thank God an am eternally grateful for what the staff did,” Dee Dee says. “The doctors were excellent.”