Emmy Award-nominated actor Danielle Vasinova has revealed she died for three minutes while battling Covid five years ago.
In an interview with People published on Thursday (December 19), the 42-year-old actor — who was just announced as the latest cast member to join the Yellowstone spin-off series, The Madison — recounted the moment her heart stopped beating.
“On December 12, 2019, I died for three minutes,” she told the outlet.
Initially, Vasinova thought she had contracted the flu. At the time, the U.S. hadn’t enacted lockdowns and there was little information about the Covid-19 virus, let alone its severity.
“I went to urgent care in downtown [Los Angeles], and they decided it was strep and sent me home with some antibiotics. But by the next day, I could barely walk. My legs wouldn’t move. It was bizarre,” Vasinona recalled.
Around 2 a.m. that same night, the 1923 star was rushed by her uncle to the emergency room. “I felt like I was going to die,” she admitted.
From her uncle’s perspective, the chaos of the emergency room felt like it was straight out of a film.
“He said people were running around me, and a tiny girl jumped on top of my chest and began pumping, pumping, pumping,” Vasinova said. “And then he saw my heartbeat on the monitor just go. Flatlined.”
For three minutes, she had no pulse. The ER nurse, who she later found out was named Ruby, was thankfully able to restart Vasinova’s heart before she was put in an induced coma and moved to the ICU.
“I had complete organ failure. I went from young and healthy to this infection that completely took over my body all of a sudden. It just came on, and it just rocked my world,” Vasinova explained.
“I didn’t see the light or a tunnel but they say it can come back to you in flashbacks,” she noted. “I did, however, start to see a lot of angel numbers everywhere. I would see sequences like 5555, 7777. It was bizarre, but something was telling me, ‘There’s something more for you. You weren’t meant to go just yet. You’re meant to do something else.’
“It’s hard to even describe how I feel, but I’m so much more connected. This felt like the turning point in my life. The death, and the rebirth,” Vasinova said. “I know to take nothing for granted. Life is so precious and it is such a gift. We’re here to do some good in the world, to be of service, and to be forever grateful.”
After the traumatic experience, Vasinova got in contact with Ruby to thank her for saving her life.
“I didn’t know if she was going to recognize me, but when she opened the door, I started crying, and she just lost it,” the Hollywood star said. “She told me she never knows who lives or dies after they get transferred. She just gave me the biggest hug. Because I’d been gone for three full minutes. But I came back.”
As a token of her gratitude, Vasinova gifted the medical professional a bracelet with a small encrusted ruby.
Now, Vasinova is prospering physically and professionally. In addition to being cast in Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan’s The Madison, she will also join newcomers Kevin Zegers, Rebecca Spence, and Allaina Pollack.
