I ‘died’ for 28 minutes when I had a heart attack and collapsed. This is what I saw on the other side
- Phill Zdybel collapsed while playing basketball
- He survived cardiac arrest, which is often fatal
- Mr. Zdybel talked about the remarkable experience
There were no white lights or pearl fences when a fitness instructor went into cardiac arrest during a game of basketball and dropped dead for a harrowing 28 minutes.
Instead, Phill Zdybel, 57, felt as if he were floating above, looking down at his own body as an off-duty nurse desperately tried to resuscitate him.
“I would say I was a little out of body,” he told the Geelong Advertiser.
But as the Taekwondo instructor from Geelong hovered over him, he felt it wasn’t his time to start discovering a new outlook on life.
Phill Zdybel, a fit taekwondo instructor, collapsed from cardiac arrest while playing basketball in Geelong. (Pictured, Josh and Phill Zdybel)
Mr. Zdybel was dead for 28 harrowing minutes
“All the little things we worry about aren’t worth worrying about,” he said.
“Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do anything.
“I wasn’t going anywhere.”
He had collapsed due to a coronary artery aneurysm on the crowded court, causing full-blown cardiac arrest.
His son, Joshua, watched him play that day and saw him hit the ground.
He hurried to call Triple-0, while an off-duty nurse who happened to be at court immediately began CPR.
Spectators also grabbed the defibrillator from the basketball courts at the Belmont facility.
He believes it was a “miracle” that his cardiac arrest unfolded with so many people around to help.
It could just as well have happened while he was exercising alone, driving a taxi for people with disabilities at work, or even in his sleep.
“No one would have found me,” he said.
Of patients who experience cardiac arrest outside a hospital, ‘less than eight percent’ survive, according to Heart Research Australia.
Mr Zdybel was discharged after a week at Geelong Hospital, where he had a stent placed.
He considered giving up martial arts, but has already returned to competition with his son.
The quick actions of Mr. Zdybel’s son Josh (left) were a major reason he survived
Mr Zdybel has also become an advocate for CPR training and is adamant that more defibrillators should be available to the public
He believes his fitness and attitude were the keys to his survival.
Mr. Zdybel has also become an advocate for CPR training and is adamant that more defibrillators should be available to the public.
Defibrillators send an electrical pulse or shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat.