It was a stunning turn of events for Dean and his family. Green says he was very healthy — someone who went to the gym, ran nearly every day and was very careful about his diet.
"This was his first time ever in a hospital," she said. "He didn't even have a doctor because he never was sick."
But within days, Dean's kidneys gave out and he was relying on an ECMO life support machine to do the work of his heart and lungs. The night before Dean died, Green said, the medical staff in Oklahoma did a bronchoscopy on his lungs.
"The doctor said he'd never seen anything like it before in his life. His lungs were just totally ... gummed up, and like a mesh over them."