Man survives heart attack despite being resuscitated 18 HOURS after organ stopped
Doctors say the probability of him surviving should have been near to zero. It is thought 53-year-old survived because a drop in his body temperature protected his brain and other organs
A MAN has defied the odds of survival after his heart stopped beating for 18 hours.
The 53-year-old suffered a heart attack while out walking, but because his body was so cold when paramedics got to him doctors were still able to save him.
The patient, who has not been named, is now recovering in hospital and is not expected to suffer any brain damage.
Medical experts have said his survival is a 'medical and human adventure'.
reported the French man had a heart attack while walking back from his brother's house in Béziers, Montpellier on March 12.
Relatives out searching found the missing man unconscious by a river and called paramedics who discovered he was suffering with hypothermia with a body temperature of 22C, instead of the normal 37C.
They started to resuscitate him at the scene with doctors taking over once they got him to hospital.
Medics carried on with heart massages for more than four hours before placing him on a heart-lung machine. This kept him alive until his body temperature rose enough for them to make another attempt to get his heart going.
Jonathan Charbit, in charge of intensive care unit at Montpellier University Hospital, told The Times the patient's survival was because the fall in his body temperature had protected his brain and other organs and emergency services realising this.
He said: "The medical team was stupefied.
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"This is a textbook case. It's also an extraordinary medical and human adventure. The probability of him surviving was near to zero."
Dr Charbit added: "The doctors judged, rightly, that it was perhaps the hypothermia that was stopping the heart from getting going again. It was necessary to warm up the patient before concluding that the massages had failed."
The patient suffered several broken ribs because of the amount of heart massages and needed to stay on the heart-lung machine for three days. Doctors say he is heading towards total recovery.