“Telling you all of that is like telling someone’s else’s story,” Tana said as I interviewed her on a bright, sunny fall day in October. Nine months earlier in January 2024, her days were dark and unnumbered. For seven days she laid in a medically induced coma and then awoke to extreme pain in her rib cage; a pain she is grateful for because her ribs were broken from CPR that saved her life. Seven days of her life are blank, but her family has shared her story with her enough times that it is now her own.

At 47, Tana was healthy and enjoying a family vacation in Mexico when on New Year’s day her family found her seizing on the floor after she mentioned not feeling well. For eight and half minutes she flatlined and then was brought back with an AED. There was no time for relief as she was taken to the hospital and flatlined again, but was shortly resuscitated with CPR. Testing revealed she suffered a cardiac arrest and would remain in the hospital another six days. The terror of this shocking event caused her 21 year old son to be admitted to the same hospital needing fluids for an infection.

To this day, nobody understands why this happened, including Tana who says, ”Like an earthquake, it’s a shattering experience and absolutely terrifying, but sometimes impossible to predict or prepare for.” That’s why in May this year Tana had surgery to implant an ICD and in turn joined the SADS ICD Support Group. She found SADS while working from home and researching cardiac arrest online, “It was amazing how much better it made me feel. Even if I didn’t have anything to say, just listening was helpful to me.” Tana felt forced to find support while adjusting to the ups and down of life with an ICD. When she found SADS online she started by reading people’s stories and testimonials. That sense of community was exactly what she needed after feeling she was left short by medical professionals, ”I would have expected doctors to be more forthcoming with support and information.” The fact that Tana felt she received better care in Mexico than stateside was concerning to the SADS staff. We paired her with our Family Support team to find the care she deserves including information on genetic testing to find answers that could potentially not only affect her, but her son and the rest of the family.

Family is top of mind for Tana who shares this advice, “It’s important for those of us who are victims of these occurrences to keep in mind the people who care for us and love us. It’s impacted my husband’s and son’s lives.” This experience has pushed her to remind us all, “You shouldn’t assume because you’re healthy and not elderly that you’re not at risk. You don’t have to have heart disease to have a cardiac arrest.”