Heart attack and cardiac arrest survivor, Amy Cavaliere, shares her story of survival and recovery
Heart attack and cardiac arrest survivor, Amy Cavaliere, shares her story of survival and recovery
Amy Cavaliere, 40, had a sudden cardiac arrest in the ambulance after having a heart attack at home. The EMT performed CPR for 45 mins to save her life. Today, she is teaching others how to save a life by learning CPR.
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0.66 -> - Life before my heart attack, my SCAD,
3.11 -> my cardiac arrest was very
normal, very comfortable.
6.94 -> I was a mom, stay-at-home
mom to three kids, married,
11.22 -> you know, living the dream in the suburbs.
16.44 -> My husband and I made
very conscious decisions
19.46 -> to live a healthy life.
20.63 -> We worked out regularly,
22.11 -> we ate as clean as we could.
25.03 -> I never thought I would be
at risk for heart disease.
27.77 -> I never in a million years thought at 35,
31.7 -> I would have a heart
attack and cardiac arrest.
34.14 -> So the day of my heart
attack, February 1st,
37.4 -> I had woken up that morning
complaining to my husband
40.38 -> that I had felt a heaviness in my chest.
42.59 -> I said, "It felt as if I
had a weight on my chest."
45.1 -> I was pretty adamant
46.44 -> about getting the kids to school on time.
48.5 -> I didn't want to be dramatic,
51.43 -> and I thought I was fine.
53.28 -> This might just be a panic attack,
55.1 -> even though I've never had
a panic attack in my life.
57.01 -> It wasn't until I was
brushing my daughter's hair,
60.497 -> and I dropped my arms
because it just hurt so bad
65.29 -> and I couldn't use them anymore.
67.06 -> And I started to hyperventilate.
68.949 -> Then my husband saw that I
started to turn a shade of gray
73.29 -> and he said, "This just isn't you,
75.42 -> you don't have panic attacks.
77.1 -> Something's not right. I'm calling 911."
80.08 -> And that action is what saved my life.
83.99 -> Kept trying to tell the
EMT, Dave, that I was fine.
88.84 -> And then just as soon as I said, I'm fine,
91.32 -> I was out, I was pulseless.
93.33 -> And now I was in full
blown cardiac arrest,
95.629 -> and I was pulseless.
97.07 -> I was receiving CPR and
AED shocks for 45 minutes.
101.23 -> Once they got me through that
and regained a stable rhythm,
105.508 -> they put me into a medically induced coma
108.22 -> and took me to the cath lab.
109.83 -> Once I was in the cath lab is
when the emergency room doctor
113.92 -> and the cardiologist on
call said, "This is a SCAD."
118.21 -> They recognized it pretty quickly.
120.06 -> They did determine that I had,
122.699 -> I have fibromuscular dysplasia,
124.55 -> which is a big precursor to SCAD.
126.509 -> And the combination of
fibromuscular dysplasia, or FMD,
130.76 -> and stress is what caused mine.
133.593 -> (gentle music)
136.97 -> The face of heart disease has changed.
141.48 -> I think the biggest thing is
that it doesn't discriminate,
144.59 -> it doesn't,
145.423 -> heart disease doesn't
care what size you are,
149.29 -> what color you are, how old you are,
152.01 -> it doesn't discriminate.
152.87 -> It can literally happen
to anyone at any time.
155.95 -> And I think that's why I
focus a lot too on CPR,
157.93 -> is it can literally happen
158.87 -> to the person standing
next to you in the store,
161.55 -> and are you going to freak out
163.82 -> or are you going to be
able to spring into action
166.84 -> and help that mom get back
to her family one day?
171.89 -> About 70% of out-of-hospital
cardiac arrests
175.59 -> happen in the home.
176.82 -> Two steps to save a life:
178.44 -> call 911, and push hard and
fast until help arrives.
182.402 -> (gentle music)
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vXvj2DyYyg