WHEN Evan Hoyt Wasserstrom woke up panicked and confused in a hospital bed in April 2016, he told his mum he didn't want to die.
Her answer shocked him: he'd already died. Not once, but eight times, after experiencing a massive 'widow-maker' heart attack.
Heart attacks occur when blood supply to the heart is suddenly cut off, usually by a blood clot.
A 'widow-maker' heart attack is caused by blockage of the largest artery pumping blood to the heart.
Evan died the first time in his flat in Los Angeles on March 28, after making his first ever call to emergency services.
He was preparing to take his Labrador Atticus Finch for a walk when he felt a searing, burning pain in his left arm.
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Writing for Insider, Evan described feeling like "the sun [was] burning inside the veins" of his arm and being drenched in so much sweat that it was like he'd gone for a swim fully clothed.
He'd experienced a few panic attacks after moving to LA, but he knew this was different.
After dialling 911 for the first time, Evan told the operator he didn't know if he was having a heart attack or severe panic attack.
When paramedics arrived after a few minutes, Evan flung the door open for them – and swiftly collapsed, with everything around him going black.
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He later learned that this was the first time he died, having suffered a massive 'widow-maker' heart attack.
Paramedics were able to revive Evan in the ambulance using defibrillators, but he kept flat-lining.
What ensued was a ping-pong match en route to hospital, where Evan died for 30 or 40 seconds and paramedics started his heart again five times.
Once at Cedars-Sinai Hospital's A&E department, Evan died two more times for two minutes each, bringing his tally up to eight.
He was later rushed into surgery to receive stents – small mesh tubes used to hold open passages of the body like arteries.
The largest artery to Evan's heart was fully blocked, while a second one was 70 per cent clogged.
He was later placed in a medically induced coma and hooked up to a machine that helped his heart beat.
In April, doctors warned Evan's family to expect the worst as they "pulled the plug" and weaned him off the machine.
To their surprise, Evan and his heart "miraculously sprung to life".
He remembers waking up in such a panic that his wrists and ankles needed to be restrained until his mum was allowed in the room and he calmed enough to realise he was in a hospital bed.
Now, Evan gets called Jon Snow and Wolverine after the fictional Game of Thrones and Marvel characters – but he doesn't feel like a superhero.
"Dying eight times is a lonely affair. I don't personally know anyone who has cheated death once, let alone eight times," he said.
"My friends and family think I'm invincible — but I feel anything but."
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He still worries about death despite beating it eight times, but he tries to make the most of his chance at life.
"Knowing that we are all here for just a millisecond, I certainly want to be there for as many people as I can well before my ninth death occurs," he wrote.
Symptoms of a heart attack
A heart attack is a serious medical emergency in which the supply of blood to the heart is suddenly blocked, usually by a blood clot.
You should call 999 and ask for an ambulance if you think you or a loved one is having one.
Symptoms of a heart attack can include:
- chest pain – a feeling of pressure, heaviness, tightness or squeezing across your chest
- pain in other parts of the body – it can feel as if the pain is spreading from your chest to your arms (usually the left) jaw, neck, back and tummy
- feeling lightheaded or dizzy
- sweating
- shortness of breath
- feeling sick or being sick
- an overwhelming feeling of anxiety, similar to a panic attack
- coughing or wheezing
The common feeling is chest pain but symptoms vary from person to person – and some people may only experience minor pain.
Source: NHS
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