The story of Luke Fossell, shared by his mother, Karoline
When Luke was just 10 days old, his heart failed. He went from perfectly healthy to fighting for his life in the span of 24 hours. We owe his life to his pediatrician, the Prisma Health Children’s Hospital—Midlands Emergency Department (ED), the Prisma Health Transport Team and the entire Pediatric Cardiology department at MUSC.
Luke was transported by the fantastic transport team at Prisma Health. They met us in the ED and explained to my husband and I what to expect on the drive to Charleston and successfully intubated Luke prior to leaving Prisma Health. They kept me updated during our rainy two-hour drive and played a major part in keeping Luke alive, as his heart function was deteriorating rapidly.
Luke was placed on life support for 12.5 days and spent 35 days at MUSC before being discharged home, still in heart failure and listed at the top of the heart transplant list.
When Luke was 4 months old, he had heart surgery to close a large hole in his heart and was successfully weaned off of his IV heart medication.
Luke just turned one and is thriving! He is still considered to be in heart failure and takes multiple medications daily to help his heart function. We are so thankful to everyone who played a role in saving Luke’s life, and will never forget the amazing transport team that worked hard to stabilize Luke and who went above and beyond to comfort us when our lives had been turned upside down.
Prisma Health Midlands Foundation’s “New Wheels For Precious Cargo” campaign will fund a new critical care ambulance for Prisma Health Children’s Hospital—Midlands. Children like Luke who need to be transported from the Midlands to MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital in Charleston for a heart procedure, will be transported in the new ambulance