I was dead for 50 minutes – doctors couldn’t believe I woke up unharmed: Remarkable recovery of man, 31, who was in a coma for five weeks after suffering two cardiac arrests at home
A man who ‘died’ twice after his heart stopped for almost an hour has stunned doctors by making a miraculous recovery.
Ben Wilson, 31, from Barnsley, suffered a cardiac arrest at home last June.
Paramedics had to shock his heart seventeen times to revive him, with his heart technically stopping twice within 50 minutes.
After being rushed to hospital for emergency surgery, Wilson was placed in a coma for five weeks to minimize the damage to his brain caused by the temporary lack of oxygen.
Doctors repeatedly told his partner Rebekah Holmes that his outcome ‘didn’t look good’, while his family were aware that his chances of survival were slim.
Doctors had little hope that 31-year-old Ben Wilson, who suffered a massive heart attack at home in June, would survive after paramedics had to shock him 17 times to restart his heart
But in a miraculous turn of events, Ben has made an almost full recovery and is now back home, as he and his partner Rebekah Holmes are now planning their wedding.
Even if he somehow pulled through, Wilson’s family was told he could enter a vegetative state, similar to F1 legend Michael Schumacher.
Yet Mr Wilson, a traffic management officer, defied the odds and is now finally home after his near-death ordeal.
After struggling to learn to walk and talk again, he is now planning his wedding after proposing to Miss Holmes in December. She says he has only very mild speech and short-term memory problems.
He praised his fiancée’s support, saying, “I’m so grateful that everyone allowed me to be here today, and that Rebekah was there.
‘I don’t know what would have happened to me if she had run away.
“I have a second chance at life and I’m going to take it with Rebekah by my side.”
Ms Holmes performed CPR immediately after Mr Wilson went limp in her arms after complaining of chest pain – a common symptom of a heart attack.
While it’s not clear what exactly caused Wilson’s cardiac arrest, heart attacks, which block the arteries that supply blood to the organ, could lead to it.
Medics ultimately determined that Wilson’s cardiovascular emergency was caused by a blood clot blocking an artery in his heart.
Without CPR, cardiac arrests can be fatal within minutes.
Because the heart stops and all signs of life cease, it is considered a form of death, but not in the legal sense as it can be reversed by restarting the heart.
This is done via CPR or a shock from a defibrillator, but neither method guarantees survival.
Therefore, Ms. Holmes’ quick thinking likely greatly improved Mr. Wilson’s chances.
But even when professional help arrived, Miss Holmes recalled how the crew had to fight to save her “soulmate.”
“When the paramedics came, they said it didn’t look good,” she said.
‘They used a defibrillator to shock him eleven times in forty minutes before he finally got a heartbeat.
‘But when they put him out in the garden he went again and they shocked him six times in another ten minutes and brought him back.
“They immediately put him in a medically induced coma to minimize the damage.”
Victims of cardiac arrest are often placed in an induced coma to minimize damage to the brain from lack of oxygen by reducing its activity.
A lack of oxygen for as long as Mr Wilson had could result in patients surviving only in a vegetative state, even if revived, due to the extent of brain damage they can suffer.
Mr Wilson was given a blue light to the Northern General for a stent, a wire mesh that would keep the artery in his heart open.
His loved ones, including Mrs Holmes (pictured kissing Mr Wilson) were told nine times by medics that he would not make it over the course of his five-week coma.
Although the emergency surgery proved successful, Wilson suffered a series of serious complications that left him still fighting for his life.
Two days later he developed dangerous swelling of the brain and Miss Holmes was told this was probably the beginning of the end.
At one point his family was called in to say goodbye as he suffered multiple heart attacks. Loved ones were even told that Mr. Wilson would not survive the night.
Medics also struggled to wake Mr Wilson from his coma as his body suffered life-threatening reactions.
These included seizures, kidney failure and even another blood clot that caused problems with his breathing tube.
Recalling her partner’s terrifying ordeal, Miss Holmes said: ‘I stayed by his side the whole time and told him I loved him.
“I sang him our song ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’, sprayed my perfume on his pillow and put a teddy bear he bought for me, with the words ‘Love you to the moon and back’ on it, next to him.
“I believe my love for him got him through. It’s a miracle he survived, but there are studies that say love and touch can help.
‘Ben has always been a hopeless romantic. He arranged flowers and cards for me and I feel like I am repaying him for all the love and affection he has shown me in the seven years we have been together.’
When Wilson finally woke from his medically induced coma, the first word he muttered was, “Rebekah.”
“That was a beautiful moment,” she said.
He would spend the next four months in hospital, waiting for a place to become available at a special neuropsychiatric rehabilitation center, which treats victims of brain injuries.
Finally, after fourteen weeks of rehabilitation and a total of eight and a half months since his heart attack, Mr Wilson finally came home last week.
Miss Holmes said: ‘While in rehab Ben was able to come home at weekends and in December he asked me to marry him. He got down on one knee and asked the question.
‘Of course I said yes.
‘We are now planning the full works, followed by a wonderful honeymoon.’
Miss Holmes added: “I can’t help but think that if one person hadn’t done their job they might not be here today, but everyone has done an absolutely incredible job.
“We can’t thank them enough.”
The couple said medics have been unable to determine exactly why Wilson made such a miraculous recovery after his ordeal.
Dr. Jennifer Hill, medical director of operations at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where he was treated, said: ‘We are delighted to hear that Ben is doing well, and his recovery is all the more remarkable given the severity of his condition when he got sick. hospitalized.
‘It is a testament to the skill of the medical teams here and our healthcare colleagues in the region that he has made such good progress, and of course to Ben’s determination and resilience.’
Medics have told the couple that the cause of the blood clot that caused his heart attack was likely due to Wilson’s unhealthy habits of sedentary gaming, smoking and a poor diet.