A HALE man who underwent a life saving procedure has helped establish a new support group for patients and their families.

After suffering a sudden critical illness, former patient Sam Roden was helped to recovery by cutting edge treatment to re-oxgenate his blood by University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust’s (UHSM) Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) unit.

The ECMO technique involves using a machine at Wythenshawe Hospital to take over the heart and lung functions for a number of days, enabling patients’ organs to recover.

Now Sam’s worked alongside UHSM to form a support group for patients that have faced similar ordeals.

Two years ago, he was saved by the unit when his lungs failed as a result of pneumonia.

Wife Sarah remembered: “Seeing Sam, who was an extremely fit and healthy and person, go from being at home with me and the boys on Thursday, albeit unwell, to being in organ failure and critically ill by Saturday was terrifying.

“I had stayed with Sam all night on Friday, but Sam seemed to deteriorate very quickly the next day.”

Sarah added: “In cases like these, everything happens so fast. In all the horror of Sam’s illness, the care he received at the hospital could not have been better. It was humanity at its best.

"You feel so completely alone - as if nobody else has ever been through this experience, even if they have. We now hope this will help families feel less alone.”

ECMO is a technique of providing both external cardiac and respiratory support to patients whose heart and lungs are so severely diseased or damaged that they can no longer serve their function.

The new ECMO family support group is the UK’s first patient-led support community for this group of patients and gives virtual and telephone help to patients and their families in coming to terms with the dramatic experience of going through the life-saving treatment.

The ECMO resource can be found at www.ecmofamilysupport.com.