Woman who 'died for 17 minutes' during gym session said she saw something she could never imagine
A woman who 'died for 17 minutes' after going into cardiac arrest during a workout has revealed what she experienced when her heart stopped beating.
Victoria Thomas was taking part in a bootcamp session at her local gym when she suddenly started to feel unwell after lifting weights.
The fitness buff, who was 35 at the time, recalled how she turned to a pal and informed them she felt 'slightly dizzy' and as though all her energy had 'drained from her body'.
"I’d only just said it when I suddenly collapsed on the floor," Victoria, from Gloucester, said, as per The Mirror.
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She had gone into cardiac arrest, which occurs when a person's heart suddenly stops pumping blood around their body, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) explains.
It is a life-threatening emergency which usually happens 'without warning', while patients typically lose consciousness, become unresponsive and are unable to breathe normally.
Within a matter of minutes, paramedics arrived at the gym to tend to Victoria and began performing CPR - but despite their desperate attempts to resuscitate her, they still couldn't find a pulse.
As chaos erupted around her, Victoria claims she ended up having a bird's-eye view of what was going on - as she began 'floating' above her own body while unconscious.
"When it happened, it went black and there was nothing, then I became aware of looking down on my body," she said of her outer-body experience. "I was floating near the roof and was looking down at myself on the gym floor.
"I didn’t see a light, or feel peaceful, I was just watching myself, and I could see some yellow machines around me."
After what felt like a lifetime for her friend, Victoria's heart began beating again, 17 minutes after paramedics began performing the life-saving measures.
The now-41-year-old has heaped praise on the ambulance service for 'never giving up on her' despite the amount of time that had passed.
"The minutes ticked by, but they refused to stop trying," she said. "I was so young, fit and healthy and it had come completely out of the blue," she said, while adding that there is no history of heart problems in her family.
The gymgoer was rushed to Bristol Royal Infirmary where she subsequently spent three days in a coma, while surgeons fitted her with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).
Explaining how these work, the BHF say: "Your heart has a sinus node that sends out electrical impulses to make your heart beat. If your sinus node is not working properly, your heart can beat too quickly.
"An ICD can take over the role of your sinus node. It will check your heart rhythm all the time."
After arming her with this handy bit of kit which could restart her heart in the event of another cardiac arrest, Victoria was allowed to return home.
But it's a good job she was fitted with the ICD, as it ended up saving her life on several occasions over the months that followed.
Victoria said of her defibrillator: "It was a shock whenever it went off, but it allowed me to carry on living my normal life, which I was so grateful for," saying the tech has allowed her to 'carry on living' a normal life.
The ICD then ended up working overtime when the fitness fan fell pregnant in February 2021, as carrying a child 'put pressure' on her ticker and triggered 'regular' cardiac arrests.
When she hit the 24-week mark, doctors finally got to the bottom of why her heart was behaving this way and diagnosed the mum-to-be with Danon disease.
This is a rare genetic disorder which is 'inherited' and can impact patients in various ways - however, it mostly wreaks havoc on the heart, muscles, retina and brain, Cleveland Clinic states.
Victoria says she is the first person in her family to be receive the diagnosis and recalled how she 'couldn't take it in' when she first found out the news.
She explained that a result, doctors wanted her to give birth to her son Tommy when she was just 24-weeks - but she 'persuaded them' to let her wait it out a little longer, fearing her child 'may not have survived'.
Ultimately, Victoria underwent an emergency caesarean when she was 30-weeks pregnant as she struggled to breathe due to the build-up of fluid in her body.
Baby Tommy was born happy and healthy - however, carrying him had caused further damage to Victoria's heart.
A check-up in April 2022 revealed that her heart was functioning at just 11 per cent, which is usually seen in patients suffering from heart failure who are nearing the end of their life.
Despite the 'devastating' blow, Victoria pulled herself together for the sake of her son and was placed on the urgent donor register.
In April 2023, medics finally found a suitable match and the mum underwent a heart transplant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham - which was a success, and she was discharged in May that year.
Incredibly, she now plays netball four times a week - and she is set to compete in both basketball and volleyball at the World Transplant Games in Germany next month.
Victoria said Tommy, who is now three, thankfully does not have Danon disease, while she gushed that she feels she has been 'given a second chance at life'.
Olivia Burke