Diana thanks pair of 'angels'
DIANA Morris was dead for almost two minutes.
Just moments before her heart stopped beating, the Capella resident was having trouble breathing and complaining of chest pain.
Before she knew it, she keeled over and went into cardiac arrest.
On Tuesday afternoon she met her two "angels" for the first time - the pair of Central Queensland paramedics that bought her back to life against all odds as they rushed her the 50km to Emerald Hospital.
Intensive care paramedic Jon Ferguson and advanced care paramedic Colin Salter said it was jobs like Diana's that reminded them why they became paramedics.
"A positive outcome like that will keep me going for at least another four years," Jon said.
But the reality is, due to the regional isolation of the Central Highlands, all the chips had to fall in the right order for Diana to make it through.
And in almost unbelievable luck, they did.
"I was stationed in Capella doing an after hours shift, (by) pure luck, because I'm the officer-in-charge in Middlemount," Colin said.
"And purely by chance, Fergy (Jon) had come out here to go through some paperwork with me.
"It was pure luck that we were both here at the time."
Being an intensive care paramedic, Jon is one of only a handful who are authorised to administer the clot busting drugs that no doubt saved Diana's life for a second time, after they initially revived her with CPR.
"We performed CPR for two minutes and she was back. She basically died right in front of us," Jon said.
"Every minute once the heart stops beating has a huge effect; essentially we have less to work with after each second.
"We identified that she still had a severe clot in her heart, and it was lucky that I was on hand to be able to administer the shot, otherwise her heart would have been irreparably damaged.
"Not only did we bring her back, we stopped her from damaging her heart irreparably and we reopened an artery that was blocked in her heart that caused the incident in the first place."
Diana said she couldn't be more thankful towards her two saviours.
"They are amazing - my angels," she said.
"They were so calming and they didn't panic at all, just unbelievable.
"I wouldn't have made it without them … I was dead for 10 seconds off two minutes.
"It was like I was floating in an ocean … I felt as though I was rolling over and honestly it was the most surreal feeling I've ever had in my life … There was no noise, nothing.
"Somebody is obviously looking out for me up there. I'm meant to be here for something, I just need to work out what it is now."
She said if there was one thing to come out of the ordeal, it was the lesson that everyone should know CPR.
"Everyone should know it and be able to do it. It saves lives," Diana said. "It should be mandatory."
Not surprisingly, Jon and Colin agree.
