Woman says she 'died and came back to life' despite given just a 6% chance of survival
A woman has opened up about 'dying and coming back to life' after being given just a six percent chance of survival.
Kirsty Bortoft was discovered lifeless and put in a coma, but against the odds she made a remarkable recovery.
Watch her recount her story here:
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Kirsty, a mind coach and meditation teacher, from Brislington, North Yorkshire, was working from home in January 2021; but when her partner Stu Clark returned home, he found her unresponsive on the sofa.
He immediately began CPR and called an ambulance, which arrived in just six minutes, and paramedics restarted the 49-year-old's heart with a defibrillator.
The mum-of-three was then rushed to Scarborough General Hospital, where she was placed in a medically induced coma.
Doctors told Stu to prepare for the worst, with his partner only given a six percent chance of pulling through, and the car dealership director pleaded for her to hang on so he could propose to her.
Then, two days later, she made a miraculous recovery.
"The last time I was seen on WhatsApp was 4.49pm and Stu walked in at 5.29pm," Kirsty recalled.
"I was sat on the sofa with my eyes open - not breathing.
"He didn't think I was going to make it - I had turned a weird dark red colour and had hexagon shapes all over my skin."
When doctors decided to bring Kirsty out of her coma, they had no idea what what had happened and feared she could be brain dead.
She said: "I came out and had no idea what was going on, so I freaked out, I started pulling all the tubes out of me, so they put me back under."
According to Kirsty, doctors then decided to see if her body would cope unhooked to the machines, and thankfully it did.
Kirsty said: "I came back and was conscious, but I wasn't completely present for three days - I think because of all the drugs.
"Stu proposed to me seven times but I kept forgetting - finally I remembered proposal number seven. It brought a lot of love and joy to the whole ward.
"Stu could only see me through a window because of Covid and had to FaceTime doctors to see what had happened."
Given that she's a mind coach and meditation teacher, you won't be surprised to hear that Kirsty credits an 'angel' with saving her life.
She said: "Stu was called out to go and help someone whose car had broken down but he then got a call to say a stranger had already helped, so he didn't have to go.
"I wouldn't be here today because he wouldn't have found me. It's like it all lines up and I got sent back for a reason."
Kirsty said doctors were unclear what had happened to her, but they fitted her with an implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD), which regulates the rhythm of the heart.
The near-death experience has made her grateful for the little things in life, and she now shares her spiritual journey of discovery on TikTok.
She said: "I kept telling the doctors I know I might have just died but I'm really fit and healthy, and I meditated - there was a white golden light healing me.
"I have no memory from those three days but when I came back into my body, I had an undoubtable knowing I had to continue my life from total gratitude, and I needed to share my story with the world."
Jake Massey