In 2014, Brittany Williams was a fit, seemingly healthy 24-year-old. She ran daily, ate well and had a killer bikini body. Then, suddenly, she went into cardiac arrest.
She was having dinner at a Times Square restaurant when her heart stopped and she lost consciousness, TODAY.com reported.
“My mom and dad looked over, and they thought I was having a seizure,” Williams told TODAY.com. “My eyes rolled to the back of my head, and I just collapsed, and I was unresponsive.”
Luckily, two strangers in the restaurant — both doctors — were able to administer CPR for eight minutes until emergency personnel arrived. If they hadn’t been there, Williams would have died.
The episode came seemingly out of nowhere. Williams had no history of heart problems and seemed quite healthy. But, at work a few days prior there had been an early warning sign that she brushed off.
“All of a sudden the left side of my body went numb and tingly,” Williams recalled. “I sat back and though, ‘Oh no, this doesn’t feel right. This is not what I feel like on a day-to-day basis.”
Williams Googled her symptoms and saw three fatal health scares pop up: stroke, heart attack and cardiac arrest. She alerted her boss, whom she said brushed off her concerns. Day later, she almost died.
After collapsing at the restaurant and undergoing CPR, Williams was hospitalized and put in a medical coma.
She was ultimately diagnosed with long QT syndrome, a health condition that causes an accelerated and irregular heartbeat, according to the Mayo Clinic. The syndrome often goes undiagnosed because people with the conditions develop symptoms – which can be as severe as sudden fainting, seizures or even death – over time. Typically, medicines such as beta blockers are prescribed.
Williams had to have a defibrillator implanted to thwart future episodes of irregular heart beats and the deadly potentially of her heart stopping again.
Cardiac arrest is the abrupt loss of all heart activity due to irregular heart rhythm causing breathing to stop and a person to become unconscious, according to the Mayo Clinic. Death can result if not treated immediately. Symptoms leading up to cardiac arrest can include chest discomfort, shortness of breath, weakness and heart palpitations along with sudden collapse, no pulse, loss of consciousness and no breathing.
Unexplained tingling or numbness in the left side of the body is a cause to seek medical attention, according to Healthline.com. While Williams’ case may feel like a rare occurrence, she stresses the importance of raising awareness, particularly now as February is heart health month.
While the recovery left Williams apprehensive about another episode, she believes she survived for a reason.
“I knew deep down that I had gotten a second chance at life, and that I wasn’t going to waste it,” she said.
