The family of Sen. Tim Melson has created a public Facebook page to share updates on the lawmaker’s medical status after he suffered a cardiac arrest in South Korea last week.
On Sunday, Melson’s son, Tyler Melson, said there was encouraging news.
“Dad was successfully taken off of (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and has remained very stable,” Tyler Melson wrote. “This is a big step and we praise God for this good report. He remains on the ventilator but has shown signs of trying to breathe on his own.”
In extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, blood is pumped outside of the body to a heart-lung machine, allowing the heart and lungs to rest, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“His improvement so far has been miraculous and we are certain that it is due to all the prayer he has received,” Tyler Melson said. “Please continue to pray as there are many more milestones that we will have to reach.”
Melson was part of an Alabama delegation visiting South Korea last week.
Also on the trip was Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, who administered CPR to Melson.
“It appears that his arrest was caused by an arrhythmia (or irregular rhythm),” Tyler Melson said in a Saturday Facebook post.
Several of Melson’s family members, including his son, traveled to South Korea. The hope is to have the senator transferred to Alabama when he is stable, Tyler Melson said in a post.
Melson, an anesthesiologist, was first elected to the Senate in 2014. He is the chair of the Senate Health Care Committee and previously chaired the chamber’s Education Policy Committee.
In 2021, after several years of work, he passed legislation allowing the limited use of medical marijuana in Alabama.
Melson took a similar trip to South Korea in 2019.