Sarah, spouse of Mark, sudden cardiac arrest survivor

My husband Mark had just gotten home from his Sunday night hockey league. With our four kids in bed, I was about to iron my scrubs when I heard this loud thud. Mark had collapsed on the floor, was gasping for air, sweating and turning blue. I called 911 and started performing CPR until the paramedics arrived. It took three rounds of shocks, but finally they were able to restart Mark's heart. By then, he had fallen into a coma. I asked the ambulance to take us to St. Luke's.

When Becky Holmstrom [St. Luke's ICU nurse] found out that Mark was undergoing induced hypothermia, she volunteered to stay on for another eight hours to monitor him through the night. (She even called us on her day off to find out how Mark was doing.) About eighteen hours later, a battery of tests diagnosed his condition as ventricular tachycardia with sudden cardiac arrest. Mark has an ICD now and is doing great. We're both so grateful to St. Luke's for his care. Read the full story