A YouTube star who was put into a medically-induced coma has opened up about the 'horrible nightmares' she endured in her sleep.
The decision was made by Canadian social media star Amanda van der Gulik some years ago in the midst of a life-threatening health battle.
In the months prior to being voluntarily put to sleep, the content creator had begun to experience several symptoms of what she believed was a mild cold. She even booked an appointment with her GP at the time, who insisted she was likely suffering with the flu.
After several rounds of antibiotics failed to treat her exhausting symptoms, van der Gulik's health rapidly declined and she was eventually left totally unable to move.
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After her partner rushed her to the local ER, a number of tests revealed she was actually suffering with pneumonia in both of her lungs - a condition whereby the lungs become inflamed as a result of a bacterial or viral infection.
The most common symptoms of pneumonia include a cough, severe difficulty breathing, a high temperature and chest pain.
In van der Gulik's case, her oxygen levels were also dangerously low.
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Being that her local hospital didn't have the luxury of an ICU (intensive care unit), medics arranged for her to be transferred to a different facility.
The issue was, however, that said facility was over 45 minutes away, and doctors were concerned about van der Gulik's condition worsening.
As such, it was recommended that she be placed into a medically induced coma.
Despite she and her family being reassured that the protective measure would only last several days - long enough for her body to stabilise - the induction procedure didn't quite go to plan.
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While in her coma, she developed ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome), which saw her lungs cease functioning without medical intervention.
What was supposed to be a three-day coma became three weeks - but eventually van der Gulik's condition improved, her lungs began to recover, and she woke up.
What medics didn't expect, however, was for the YouTuber to be able to recall everything she thought of while in a coma - much of which consisted of gut-wrenching nightmares and hellish lucid dreams.
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She previously told press what she saw: "I had the craziest dreams I had the craziest scariest nightmares of my life, it was awful.
"They call it ICU psychosis but it's so real it’s almost more real than reality."
Van der Gulik continued: "Every experience in my life that meant something to me, every fear I’d ever had, every manipulation that had ever happened to me, they all got mixed together and became this horrible nightmare horror story."
The online star claimed the experience left her feeling as though she'd 'lived a second life', and is still haunted by her vivid recollection.
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"They’re stronger than normal regular life memories that I have and they were so clear they’re still clear, they have not gone away," she added, describing the experience as 'awful'.
Rhianna Benson