Thursday 14th April started the same as always. I left home to take my 2 year old son Henry to his day carer and drove to work. I am a teacher and enjoy going to school and working with a fantastic staff and a very enthusiastic group of Grade 2 students. My month was going to be great as one of my most favourite people and friend of over 17 years, Hannah, was doing her teaching placement at my school.
Thursday morning's start off with team planning and everything was going to plan. A lot of what happened that day is lost in my memory but what was to happen that afternoon would change my life.
My last memory of Thursday was making plans to meet Hannah after school for a coffee catch up but a meeting for an upcoming school event was called after school. I remember changing our plans to meet in town instead.
My next memory is Saturday 16th April. I was in hospital and it was my 5th wedding anniversary.
I had no memory of anything that happened. The doctor's and my family gently broke the news to me that I was in hospital because I had had a cardiac arrest. I am 33 years old and perfectly healthy. I cried at the shock and there was an element of total disbelief.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest, or SCA, is the leading cause of death in Australia, approx 33,000 die per year and it affects any age, gender & fitness level and often occurs without prior warning signs or symptoms.
On Thursday after I had left work, I told my friend that I would drop into our local Aldi and drop a poster off for the school event and get a couple of things. I have been told that I got to the back of the store and a lady heard me say that I didn't feel well and thought I was going to faint. I collapsed to the floor landing face down.
What then followed was people rushing to me and assuming that I had fainted. They tried to make me comfortable. Several minutes passed before a staff member came to check on the situation and realised from the colour of my skin and lips that it was far more serious. There was no sign of life. One staff member checked for pulse and breathing and not being able to find anything directed her colleague start CPR. These two life saving staff members worked tirelessly for approximately 8 minutes until the ambulance arrived.
Unfortunately, the shopping centre defibrillator could not be found.
Paramedics delivered a shock and my heart started. I was rolled into the recovery position where I again stopped breathing and a second shock was administered. Paramedics worked quickly to transport me to the ambulance and I was taken to Sunshine Hospital.
My friend Hannah had been waiting for me outside the whole time and watched on in shock as I was wheeled past. She immediately went into survival mode and drove to my house to get the spare key to my car and called my dad to get the details of the day carer as the pick up time for my son had past.
Dad met up with her at my house and they continued with my son's night routine as normal. Hannah also drove my mum to the hospital, which is a 30 minute drive, returning to my house to look after my dad. She is an angel and I will never be able to thank her enough for looking after my devastated dad and being so incredibly calm under pressure.
The paramedics had called my husband and he was stuck in gridlock traffic. They spoke to him calmly and told him to get to the hospital. Being unfamiliar with the area, he didn't know how to get there so my brother called him and directed him step by step.
My injuries included cracked ribs, cracked sternum, bruised lung and retrograde amnesia from the lack of oxygen to the brain. Doctors told my mum and husband that they couldn't say how long it would take for my memory to come back, if at all. I went through many tests including CAT scan, angiogram, xray, MRI of brain and heart, echocardiograms, none of which have given any explanation for the cardiac arrest. Luckily, or unluckily, I have no memory of my time in Emergency and when I woke up Saturday, I was on the ward.
I received so many flowers and gifts from friends and family. My class sent me in a big book of letters and pictures and the nursing staff loved reading them and looking at the pictures. I loved the flowers as it was colour to look at. I wasn't allowed off the ward so getting some fresh air was out of the question. The flower deliveries didn't go unnoticed by the staff. I received so many and each one was like a ray of sunshine. I loved the colour and I felt loved and special that I had so many people thinking of me.
The doctor's were very gentle in talking to me about what had happened and I came to learn how incredibly lucky I was to be alive. I couldn't get my head around the fact that my heart had stopped and I had been clinically dead. I learnt that my first words after regaining consciousness at the shops were 'where's Henry?' asking after my son who wasn't with me. I also learnt that as I had an arrest, I would not be allowed to drive for 6 months. I was devastated. I felt my independence was taken off me.
After more tests that checked how my heart was working, I was told that I would be getting a new model of defibrillator inserted into my chest. Unlike the first generation model, this new device is less invasive. It is called a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator, S-ICD for short. It sits under the skin just under my arm, rather than the collar bone and can be remotely monitored by doctors through a device that sits next to your bed.
So after 15 days in hospital, the day finally came when I would be getting my new device. I would be the second person in Victoria to get the second generation defibrillator.
2 days later I was allowed home and have continued to recover. Physically, my recovery has gone very well with everything healing nicely and the device downloading perfectly! Emotionally, I struggle knowing that my heart stopped and I was so close to losing my life. I can't help but think about all the circumstances that changed to ensure that I was in a public spot to receive life saving treatment quickly.
The alternative would have been me on my own at home and that would have resulted in my death.
It also rammed home the reality of the need for defibrillators in all public spaces, including all schools, shops and sporting venues. Approximately 33,000 Australians die every year from SCA. It's a shocking figure.
The ability for a victim to survive a sudden cardiac arrest is reliant on the actions of those around them to start CPR and get to a defibrillator as soon as possible. CPR will not save a victim. The heart needs a shock to get out of the dangerous rythym.
I am proud to say my school now has an AED and my local shopping centre has now installed one in the food court. It makes me feel my event has made a difference.
AED's need to be everywhere. Ask your employer, where is our defibrillator? If you don't know CPR, go and do a refresher. Your actions could save a life. If properly educated, the general public can become less reliant on emergency services response times and more confident in implementing an action plan that will help to save lives.
I certainly owe my life to two wonderful people and am so lucky to still be here for my gorgeous son, husband, family and friends.
Thursday morning's start off with team planning and everything was going to plan. A lot of what happened that day is lost in my memory but what was to happen that afternoon would change my life.
My last memory of Thursday was making plans to meet Hannah after school for a coffee catch up but a meeting for an upcoming school event was called after school. I remember changing our plans to meet in town instead.
My next memory is Saturday 16th April. I was in hospital and it was my 5th wedding anniversary.
I had no memory of anything that happened. The doctor's and my family gently broke the news to me that I was in hospital because I had had a cardiac arrest. I am 33 years old and perfectly healthy. I cried at the shock and there was an element of total disbelief.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest, or SCA, is the leading cause of death in Australia, approx 33,000 die per year and it affects any age, gender & fitness level and often occurs without prior warning signs or symptoms.
On Thursday after I had left work, I told my friend that I would drop into our local Aldi and drop a poster off for the school event and get a couple of things. I have been told that I got to the back of the store and a lady heard me say that I didn't feel well and thought I was going to faint. I collapsed to the floor landing face down.
What then followed was people rushing to me and assuming that I had fainted. They tried to make me comfortable. Several minutes passed before a staff member came to check on the situation and realised from the colour of my skin and lips that it was far more serious. There was no sign of life. One staff member checked for pulse and breathing and not being able to find anything directed her colleague start CPR. These two life saving staff members worked tirelessly for approximately 8 minutes until the ambulance arrived.
Unfortunately, the shopping centre defibrillator could not be found.
Paramedics delivered a shock and my heart started. I was rolled into the recovery position where I again stopped breathing and a second shock was administered. Paramedics worked quickly to transport me to the ambulance and I was taken to Sunshine Hospital.
My friend Hannah had been waiting for me outside the whole time and watched on in shock as I was wheeled past. She immediately went into survival mode and drove to my house to get the spare key to my car and called my dad to get the details of the day carer as the pick up time for my son had past.
Dad met up with her at my house and they continued with my son's night routine as normal. Hannah also drove my mum to the hospital, which is a 30 minute drive, returning to my house to look after my dad. She is an angel and I will never be able to thank her enough for looking after my devastated dad and being so incredibly calm under pressure.
The paramedics had called my husband and he was stuck in gridlock traffic. They spoke to him calmly and told him to get to the hospital. Being unfamiliar with the area, he didn't know how to get there so my brother called him and directed him step by step.
My injuries included cracked ribs, cracked sternum, bruised lung and retrograde amnesia from the lack of oxygen to the brain. Doctors told my mum and husband that they couldn't say how long it would take for my memory to come back, if at all. I went through many tests including CAT scan, angiogram, xray, MRI of brain and heart, echocardiograms, none of which have given any explanation for the cardiac arrest. Luckily, or unluckily, I have no memory of my time in Emergency and when I woke up Saturday, I was on the ward.
I received so many flowers and gifts from friends and family. My class sent me in a big book of letters and pictures and the nursing staff loved reading them and looking at the pictures. I loved the flowers as it was colour to look at. I wasn't allowed off the ward so getting some fresh air was out of the question. The flower deliveries didn't go unnoticed by the staff. I received so many and each one was like a ray of sunshine. I loved the colour and I felt loved and special that I had so many people thinking of me.
The doctor's were very gentle in talking to me about what had happened and I came to learn how incredibly lucky I was to be alive. I couldn't get my head around the fact that my heart had stopped and I had been clinically dead. I learnt that my first words after regaining consciousness at the shops were 'where's Henry?' asking after my son who wasn't with me. I also learnt that as I had an arrest, I would not be allowed to drive for 6 months. I was devastated. I felt my independence was taken off me.
After more tests that checked how my heart was working, I was told that I would be getting a new model of defibrillator inserted into my chest. Unlike the first generation model, this new device is less invasive. It is called a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator, S-ICD for short. It sits under the skin just under my arm, rather than the collar bone and can be remotely monitored by doctors through a device that sits next to your bed.
So after 15 days in hospital, the day finally came when I would be getting my new device. I would be the second person in Victoria to get the second generation defibrillator.
2 days later I was allowed home and have continued to recover. Physically, my recovery has gone very well with everything healing nicely and the device downloading perfectly! Emotionally, I struggle knowing that my heart stopped and I was so close to losing my life. I can't help but think about all the circumstances that changed to ensure that I was in a public spot to receive life saving treatment quickly.
The alternative would have been me on my own at home and that would have resulted in my death.
It also rammed home the reality of the need for defibrillators in all public spaces, including all schools, shops and sporting venues. Approximately 33,000 Australians die every year from SCA. It's a shocking figure.
The ability for a victim to survive a sudden cardiac arrest is reliant on the actions of those around them to start CPR and get to a defibrillator as soon as possible. CPR will not save a victim. The heart needs a shock to get out of the dangerous rythym.
I am proud to say my school now has an AED and my local shopping centre has now installed one in the food court. It makes me feel my event has made a difference.
AED's need to be everywhere. Ask your employer, where is our defibrillator? If you don't know CPR, go and do a refresher. Your actions could save a life. If properly educated, the general public can become less reliant on emergency services response times and more confident in implementing an action plan that will help to save lives.
I certainly owe my life to two wonderful people and am so lucky to still be here for my gorgeous son, husband, family and friends.