Sarah Knight had been enjoying a date night with her husband Patrick when her heart stopped beating.
The couple were out watching the latest Avatar film at a cinema in Didsbury when the mum-of-two suddenly slumped over in her chair.
Thinking she may have been suffering a seizure, Patrick attempted to wake her. But when the 33-year-old failed to respond, it quickly became clear something was seriously wrong.
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One cinemagoer phoned for an ambulance and was asked to check whether Sarah was breathing. To her horror, she wasn’t. Sarah had no pulse.
The stranger and a security guard took turns performing CPR while waiting for ambulance crews to arrive. Another cinemagoer ran to retrieve a nearby defibrillator while a junior doctor, who was in the cinema lobby at the time, gave Sarah mouth to mouth.
Paramedics arrived at the scene within minutes and managed to resuscitate Sarah with five defibrillator shocks.
“It’s just scary to think about what could have happened,” Sarah, who lives in Handforth, told the Manchester Evening News. “I have two small children and we’ve only just started our lives in Cheshire. We moved up from London a few years ago and we’ve only just bought a house.
“It could have happened anywhere; I could have been walking the dogs in the woods, I could have been pregnant, there are all sorts of times where it could have happened.
“It’s very strange that we decided to go to the cinema that day. I feel slightly incredulous that we were so lucky to be in the position we were in.”
It was later determined that Sarah had suffered a cardiac arrest.
Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops pumping. If this happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs. Cardiac arrests are caused by certain types of abnormal heart rhythms that prevent the heart from pumping blood.
Sarah was placed into a medical coma and rushed to Manchester Royal Infirmary by air ambulance. That night, she was transferred to intensive care as she continued to fight for her life.
The mum, who works for a non-profit charity, woke up a few days later but had no recollection of what had happened in the cinema.
Two weeks after the incident, on March 3, Sarah had an operation to fit a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD). The devices work by delivering an electric shock to the heart if its rhythm is abnormally disturbed, protecting from sudden cardiac arrest.
On March 15, she underwent a mitral valve repair at Blackpool hospital, a major heart surgery to repair a valve that wasn't closed properly.
“My pulse was gone, I was dead for a few minutes,” Sarah added. “It’s terrifying that something like that even happened.
“I’m super fortunate and super unfortunate at the same time. I never would have thought that something so profoundly serious could have happened to me. It feels particularly surreal.
“Normally, when something traumatic happens, you can piece it together. But I have absolutely no memory. There is much to process and a need to heal, both physically and emotionally.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen to me. It seems life has a habit of blindsiding you when you least expect it.
“It's hard not to think about what might have been. But also hard not to think about how lucky I am. Living can be rough and hard, but it's also incredible. Simple pleasures like hugging my children and seeing nature have taken on a new meaning. It's a privilege to be here.”
Sarah is now encouraging others to take a free online 15 minute course in CPR while considering making a donation to the British Heart Foundation. “It could mean the difference between life and death for someone just like me,” she added.
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