Laurie Hatch- Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivor

On Sunday, January 6, 2002, while driving to Dicks on Holman Road, I experienced Sudden Cardiac Death.  You don’t drive very well when you are dead, so I crashed into the rockery on the side of the road, just past Dick’s Drive-in.
Someone driving behind me called 911 to report the accident.   The Medics from Fire Station 35 performed CPR for about 8 minutes until support, possibly from Northwest Hospital, arrived with a portable defibrillator.  I was shocked 7 times; on the top, sides and back before my heart started to beat on its own.  I was then rushed to Harborview Hospital where I remained in a coma for three days.  On the fourth day, I had surgery at the University of Washington Medical Center to receive a Medtronic pacemaker/defibrillator unit.  At 35 years old I discovered I had a heart condition, mitro-valve prolapse and cardio myopathy.

Because I was dead for so long before the Medics arrived, doctors told me that less than half of one percent survive such an incident and have full use of their faculties. My recovery process involved 3 months of neurology and cardiac rehab.  If you listen you might occasionally hear me accidentally say things like “please take the sweater out of the refrigerator” but maybe that is just old age setting in early.


Original Published Link Laurie Hatch- Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivor

#3MonthsOfNeurologyAndCardiacRehab, #CardioMyopathy, #CPR, #SuddenCardiacDeath #Heart/Cardiac

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