Monday October 13, 2025
Ocean Grove resident Glyn Davison says he owes his life to the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) service at University Hospital Geelong (UHG).
Glyn Davison was driving at 90km/h along the Bellarine Highway on Christmas Eve last year when he blacked out and crashed into a roadside barrier. He was suffering from severe heart failure and by the time he presented to UHG, his organs were beginning to fail.
Thanks to advanced care available close to home, Mr Davison was placed on veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO), a machine that temporarily takes over the work of the heart while the patient is still awake.
The rapid initiation of ECMO provided critical support and allowed Mr Davison to be transported to The Alfred in Melbourne where he received specialised treatment and a heart transplant.
Mr Davison says that without ECMO facilities close to home in Geelong, he wouldn’t be here today.
“I live locally in Ocean Grove and without ECMO locally at University Hospital Geelong, I most likely wouldn’t be here to share my story today,” he said.
ECMO is a form of advanced life support used to deliver oxygen to the organs in the body. It works by draining poorly oxygenated blood from the body, pumping the blood through an oxygenator, then returning well-oxygenated blood back to the body.
Patients with severe forms of heart or lung failure are placed on ECMO when other treatments cannot keep them alive and their condition is reversible.
ECMO coordinator Brad Gebbie says having ECMO available means that lifesaving treatment can be provided without delay.
“ECMO is one of the most advanced forms of life support we can offer, giving patients in critical heart or lung failure a fighting chance,” he said.
“Having an ECMO service available in Geelong means we can deliver critical care without delay, keeping patients close to their loved ones and giving them the best shot at survival, right here in their own community.”
It was a scary ordeal for the Davison family, but Mr Davison says he is grateful for having a strong support network to get him through.
“It was tough for everyone as I went through this journey but the support network from my wife and older children have always been there for me,” Mr Davison said.
“I am now recovering well and doing work in the gym and running on the treadmill. My wife and I are looking forward to getting back into hiking once I have recovered well enough.”