Pulmonary emboli (PE) are commonly encountered events with presentations ranging from benign incidental findings to obstructive shock. We present a case of a 20 year old male with nephrotic syndrome who suffered complete cardiovascular collapse with cardiac arrest in the setting of a massive PE, requiring open surgical embolectomy and ECMO support. We reviewed the literature on massive PE's focusing on the use of ECMO and success of the rarely performed open embolectomy for the treatment of obstructive shock from a massive PE.