I went into cardiac arrest after ignoring key warning sign – I even Googled it three days before
A FIT, young woman suffered a cardiac arrest after Googling and ignoring some unusual symptoms just days earlier.
Brittany Williams, was just 24 when her heart stopped and she lost consciousness while at a restaurant in New York, US.
“My mum and dad looked over, and they thought I was having a seizure," Brittany, now 33, told .
"My eyes rolled to the back of my head, and I just collapsed, and I was unresponsive," she explained.
Thankfully, there were two doctors at the restaurant during Brittany's health scare in 2014, and they were able to administer CPR for eight minutes until an ambulance arrived.
Brittany is convinced had the medics not been there she would have died.
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Days earlier, the young woman had experienced some warning signs associated with cardiac arrest - which she brushed off.
Cardiac arrest happens when the heart begins beating faster and faster, then stops beating.
“All of a sudden the left side of my body went numb and tingly,” Brittany recalled.
“I sat back and thought, ‘Oh no, this doesn’t feel right, this is not what I feel like on a day-to-day basis.'"
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When she Googled her symptoms, Brittany saw three fatal health scares pop up: stroke, heart attack and cardiac arrest.
She told her boss, who dismissed her concerns.
After arriving at hospital, the young woman would put in a medical coma.
What are the symptoms of long QT syndrome?
Some people with long QT syndrome do not have any symptoms. But those who do have symptoms usually have:
- blackouts or fainting, because the heart has stopped pumping blood properly and the brain is temporarily starved of oxygen – the heart's rhythm returns to normal within a few minutes and the person regains consciousness
- seizures, which sometimes happen instead of a blackout when the brain is starved of oxygen
- heart palpitations, when the heart is beating in a fast or unpredictable way
These symptoms can start unexpectedly and may be triggered by:
- stress
- a sudden noise – such as an alarm
- strenuous exercise – particularly swimming
- a slow heart rate during sleep
Source: NHS
Doctors later diagnosed Brittany with long QT syndrome - an inherited heart condition that affects how your heart beats.
In some people, this can cause fainting or seizures, according to the NHS.
The heart condition affects an estimated 1 in 2,000 people globally.
And, it is a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young, otherwise healthy, people, the NHS says.
The heart usually returns to its normal rhythm after it's been beating abnormally.
But if it continues to beat abnormally and is not treated in time with a defibrillator, the heart will stop pumping and the person will die.
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While Brittany has recovered she is apprehensive about having another episode - but 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,” the woman said