March 26, 2023, was a normal day for Lloyd Vines and his girlfriend, Katrina, until a pain in his gut wouldn’t go away. “It just kind of escalated,” Vines said. “It was some of the most excruciating pain I’ve ever had.”
Lloyd went to a local hospital, and it turned out he had a twisted bowel. He was rushed to surgery and unfortunately aspirated before going into septic shock. “My lungs were basically folded on themselves, and they said my heart was functioning at about 10 percent.”
Lloyd would end up being in a coma for five long weeks, spending that time on a life support technique called Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO).
“The last thing I remember is waking up from the surgery and very clearly not being able to breathe at all. And then I was out,” Vines recalls. “Luckily, the hospital I was at when I started to crash had reached out to the ECMO team at INTEGRIS Health and they came over and saved me.”
ECMO to the Rescue
Once alerted to Vines’ life-threatening condition back in early 2023, the INTEGRIS Health ECMO team mobilized to transport Lloyd to the Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute at INTEGRIS Health Baptist Medical Center, the headquarters of the INTEGRIS Health ECMO program.
ECMO is a life support system which can externally take over the function of the heart and lungs. It is typically used as an emergency measure and often considered a “last hope” for patients in critical condition. ECMO is used to oxygenate blood when the body cannot do so on its own.
After five weeks on ECMO, Vines’ body started to respond, bringing him back from the brink of death. However, the life-saving work of ECMO was only the beginning of his long, painful road to a full recovery.
Vines’ original gastrointestinal issues returned, and he spent most of May and June in the ICU as a result. Additional surgeries came thick and fast. All told, he hopes his seventh surgery, coming later this year, will be his last.
Home Run for Life
Vines will be honored Friday, Aug. 1 as the INTEGRIS Health “Home Run for Life” series continues during the 2025 Oklahoma City Comets baseball season at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
“Home Run for Life” recognizes individuals in the Oklahoma City community who have overcome a significant medical event with the help of their families, physicians and health care professionals. To symbolize the end of their battle against adversity, honorees take a home run “lap” around the bases during an in-game ceremony.
New Life, New Perspective
Lloyd says the entire experience gave him a new perspective and a deeper appreciation for the present. “Even before I got sick, I was starting to practice gratitude a little bit more. But now, every morning I take five minutes to just cuddle my dog, kiss my girlfriend and [say], ‘In this moment right now, today, things are good,’” Vines said.
The Classen SAS High School graduate and local small business owner maintains a special thankfulness for the presence of INTEGRIS Health in his hometown when he needed it most. “If there’s no ECMO, there’s no Lloyd, truly,” he declares. “And I know it’s helped many others in similar situations as me.”
INTEGRIS Health was the first in Oklahoma to establish a specialized life support program solely devoted to adult patients facing imminent death. The system has a 24-hour ECMO hotline: 844-436-ECMO (3266). ECMO physicians are available 24/7/365 for consultation with other hospitals and doctors throughout the state.
