Early May 2003, I suddenly and inexplicably died.
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), the same thing that appears to have killed Michael Jackson
on June 25, had also caused my own death a few years earlier. In my
book, "Sudden Death! The Day I Died," I share how, against the odds and
having been dead for up to 25 minutes, with no heart beat, brain waves
or pulse, I was eventually able to return to the living.
This autobiography details my hard-fought battle to recover from death, a coma, open-heart surgery and a series of stokes to live life to the fullest once again.
Ben Sherwood, journalist and founder of The Survivors Club, stated that the most lethal kind of heart problem is not a heart attack. It is, specifically, sudden cardiac arrest. SCA accounts for 325,000 deaths a year in the United States alone. It is important to understand that a heart attack is different from cardiac arrest. A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, is a blockage of the arteries and/or veins. Cardiac arrest, on the other hand, is an electrical problem interfering with the heartbeat, according to the Heart Rhythm Foundation.
The difference is critical. Cardiac arrest
is typically much more dangerous than a heart attack. Death occurs
suddenly and without warning as a result of the heart's electrical
system misfiring, which prevents the heart from pumping blood
throughout the body.
The heart's electrical abnormality can be caused by several different factors. In Michael Jackson's case, prescription drugs are suspected to have contributed to his heart problem. My sudden cardiac arrest was a direct result of a severe viral infection — the flu — three months earlier that damaged my heart.
Survival rates decrease by 10 percent with every minute that passes after cardiac arrest, and before receiving treatment by defibrillation or CPR. So obviously, the sooner a sudden cardiac arrest patient receives application of an automated external defibrillator (AED), or at the very least, CPR, the better.
If autopsy results confirm initial reports that Jackson's death was the result of cardiac arrest, he would certainly not be the first high-profile casualty of SCD. Other victims include beloved "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert, who died last year at the age of 58.
In my case, I had simply gone across the street from our home, at that time in Dana Point, Calif., to get my nails done at a local nail salon. Shortly after being seated, my head flew back and I was instantly dead.
Fortunately for me, a total stranger, Loretta
Orlandella, who happened to be an ex-Army paratrooper and daughter of a
local doctor, was present and she immediately administered CPR until
the full crew of paramedics arrived nearly 15 minutes later.
The fire department paramedics continued the CPR and alternated it with multiple shocks from their portable defibrillator.
According to the medical profession, that Good Samaritan,
Orlandella, saved my life, even though, like Jackson, I also slipped
into a coma some time after arriving at the hospital emergency room
where I'd initially been classified as DOA.
I had received last rites and my husband, Gordon Elser, was asked by the doctors if he wished to donate my body organs.
Can you imagine? Fortunately for me, his reply was, "Yes, but not yet!"
More than six years after my sudden cardiac arrest,
I am told that I still continue to defy the medical odds. In 2008 my
husband and I relocated from Southern California to Beverly to be near
our married daughter, Brandy Chetsas, and her family. My life is still
monitored very closely, with constant medical supervision, tests,
medications and, of course, the ever-present defibrillator and
pacemaker implanted in my chest.
I have been told by those reading my book that my story is one of
inspiration and commitment — to do what it takes not only to survive,
but to truly live.
Personally, I feel extremely fortunate that my amazing story had such a happy ending for me.
Born in Boise, Idaho, and raised on a small Kansas farm, Kathy Alls lives in Beverly, Massachusetts. An author and speaker, she has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Visit her Website at www.KathyAlls.com.
