A “Heart Stopping” Story…...

Posted on: 2013 02 18

October 27, 2009 was a fairly normal day for 38 year old Michelle Johnston until the evening came. Michelle was on her way home from a normal shopping trip and arrived at her house and began carrying the groceries in. She did not make it through the garage as unexpectedly Michelle collapsed, her heart stopped beating and she died from Sudden Cardiac Death.  Luckily for Michelle, her husband Andrew and daughter Sydney arrived home at the same time from a different outing and Andrew immediately called 911 and began administering CPR within two minutes of Michelle's collapse.  Andrew continued CPR for 7 minutes until the Shelburne Rescue Squad arrived to continue the life-saving efforts. Michelle's heart beat was restored in about 25 minutes and she arrived at the hospital in a coma. For the next two weeks, doctors and family stood by Michelle's side praying for her recovering. After five days Michelle emerged from her coma and was immediately sent to surgery to receive an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), which is a very small battery-powered electrical impulse generator which will detect any arrhythmia issues Michelle has and will administer a shock to her heart if it stops. Now three years later, in celebrating her life each day, Michelle encourages women and men to educate themselves about the effects of stress, to learn how to eat heart-healthy, to exercise daily, to learn CPR and to most importantly appreciate your heart and your life.  She implores people to take pause and breathe; stop and smell the roses!  Michelle hopes people will take the time to put themselves first and be healthy!  She lives life to the fullest with a "Life List" of things she would love to do (not a "bucket list")! She has realized that taking charge and leading a healthy lifestyle is the best present someone could ever give to their heart! What's on your "Life List"?