A heart attack is one such medical emergency that induces fear in almost everyone. No other can induce such fear as a heart attack. It is a sudden and fatal event that can occur without many signs.
In a recent turn of events, Evan Wasserstrom, a 40-year-old California man survived not one, but eight continuous cardiac attacks in a single day. He faced death 8 times in a day and still managed to survive.
The turn of events that led to the heart attacks
All this happened when Evan Wasserstrom was about to take his dog for a walk when he suddenly felt a strange pain in his body. The pain was unfamiliar and the feeling was unlike anything he had ever encountered.
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With this, he decided to call 911 and inform the operator that he needed medical attention for either a heart attack or the worst panic attack possible.
Wasserstrom told Insider:
"It was like the sun burning inside the veins of my left arm. Sweating profusely, I felt like I had just gone for a swim with all my clothes on. It was like no feeling I had ever experienced before."
Evan's decision to call 911 turned out to be a life-saving decision for him as he started losing the fight to live as he began to lose consciousness. As he was getting closer to the Ceddars Sinai hospital, things got more desperate with paramedics repeatedly using defibrillators to revive him.
In each heart attack, he went flatline for 30 to 40 seconds. Before reaching the hospital the paramedics had to revive him six times in total. He further said:
“The paramedic said it was like a ping-pong match — every time they shocked me back to life, I would flatline again for about 30 to 40 seconds.”
After reaching the hospital, he again had to be brought back to life two times, immediately afterwards he went through an emergency surgery in which two stents were inserted. Later it was revealed that Evan suffered from a widowmaker heart attack.
What is a widowmaker heart attack?
This term is used when the left anterior descending (LAD) artery, responsible for delivering nearly half of the blood to the heart muscle, is 100 percent blocked. Evan had his LAD 100 percent blocked and 70 percent of another artery was blocked, which highlights the severity of his condition.
Evan Wasserstrom's chances for survival were minimal, after the surgery he was placed in a medically induced coma and an ECMO machine which maintained the heart function. However, defying all the predictions he made a remarkable recovery.
Life can be unpredictable. It is better to have regular check-ups and live a heart-healthy lifestyle can help reduce the likeliness of a cardiac arrest. Evan's eight close encounters with death might have induced fear in him, but it has not extinguished his love for life. One should take this as a reminder to prioritize one's heart health and to appreciate their life as it is.
