在卸下杂货时，他发现妻子倒在地上没有呼吸

林恩 and Kent Wiles spent the morning running errands together. The Oregon couple shopped for groceries, stopped by the bank and picked up items at the hardware store.

Once home, they were bringing in bags from the car. 林恩待在厨房里收拾几件易腐食品，肯特去拿最后几袋东西. 一切都准备好了，她又穿过餐厅，去帮他搬下一堆东西.

她没能成功.

Kent found his wife of 17 years on the dining room floor. He dropped the bags and ran to her side. Part of him thought she might be joking. 林恩 had been under enormous stress in her job – enough, 他们以为, 使她的胸部紧绷，手臂和双手刺痛. Maybe this was a silly way of telling him she'd had enough?

然后他注意到她的脚是如何交叉的，而且她没有动.

As he rolled her over, 林恩's arm flopped to her side. Her eyes were half open but motionless. 她发出了一种奇怪的咯咯声，这被称为呼吸急促.

Kent checked her pulse. 没有什么. 林恩's lips started to turn blue.

He grabbed his phone to call 911, putting it in speaker mode.

Kent learned 心肺复苏 back when he was a lifeguard in college. Decades later, he was using it for the first time. He started chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, then followed the instructions of the 911 operator.

Just as he heard sirens in the distance, 一个邻居注意到有些骚动，从开着的前门往里偷看. That neighbor happened to be a physician's assistant; she rushed in and took over 心肺复苏, providing fresh energy to replace the worn-out Kent.

When the paramedics arrived, they took over 心肺复苏 and administered shocks with an AED, or automated external defibrillator.

Kent was too nervous and overwhelmed to watch. 他和邻居在厨房里等着，突然听到一声急救医生的尖叫:“我们有脉搏了!"

这是去年7月，因此COVID-19的限制使肯特无法乘坐救护车. 他没有再见到林恩，直到她进了重症监护室，注射了大量镇静剂并插管. He rubbed her arm and said he loved her. Nurses then escorted him to the waiting room.

Within a couple hours, 林恩 regained consciousness. 她被房间墙上按顺序排列的大招牌惊醒.

"You are at Corvallis Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center."

"You had a heart attack."

"Kent did 心肺复苏 and saved your life."

他拨打了911."

She felt confused and overwhelmed.

Kent was called into the room. 问了林恩几个私人问题后，他看到她的大脑运转得很清楚，松了一口气.

医生得出结论，林恩因左前降支99%的堵塞而心脏病发作. The heart attack triggered a cardiac arrest. (A heart attack is essentially a plumbing problem, 而心脏骤停是心脏电流的故障.) Doctors placed a stent in the artery to open the blockage.

在林恩在医院的第三天，也是最后一天，她被允许离开她的房间，感到非常兴奋. 这家医院恰好位于这对夫妇曾经住过的地方.

“我走下侧翼，走到窗前，看到医院的场地和我们的老邻居，我就哭了起来,她说. "I was just overcome with joy and relief that I was alive."

林恩, who at 60 lived a healthy and active lifestyle, 意识到她归咎于工作的压力症状实际上是她心脏问题的早期征兆.

"I didn't connect any one thing with the other," 林恩 said. “没有人做. We all thought it was anxiety."

She returned to work part time within three weeks. 后来，她换了一份压力较小的工作，仍然做兼职.

林恩 went through cardiac rehabilitation. 她和肯特又一起散步了，她喜欢在线尊巴舞，每天做两次瑜伽.

The couple still feel shaken from the experience.

“有时候，尤其是晚上肯特睡着的时候，我会钻进那个兔子洞，”林恩说. "I can't believe I was that close to dying."

Kent finds himself reliving that day.

"I can still see her on the floor. It was very traumatizing for me," he said. "But I also feel very blessed. I call her my little miracle."

Stories From the Heart 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.

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