Transcript Video The Man Who Died Nine Times - A Patient PerspectiveMr. Jamie Poole < Back to Boundaries of Temperature Session 2: The Patient The Man Who Died Nine Times - A Patient Perspective Presented by Mr. Jamie Poole I think now we hear a very interesting patient perspective from Jamie Pool. He's talking about the man who died nine times please. Mr Poole. Hi. Uh So yeah I am the man that died nine times. Which as we all know is just a pseudonym for cardiac arrest. Um I went on an interview with Galileo tv show here and the comments that I got from it were literally you know he didn't die. He didn't die. No I didn't die. Um One out of hospital sudden cardiac arrest uh course ventricular fibrillation. Seven episodes of the two uh some polymorphic VT other cases of course ventricular tribulation. They were all treated li treated successfully by an I. C. D. Another in hospital. Southern cardiac arrest calls VF. That was during a cpt exam while it's getting assessed for transplant. Uh And two episodes of un sustained VT uh and five inappropriate inappropriate shocks will get to the air quotes later allegedly. Uh So me at 20. So that's when I had my first out of hospital cardiac arrest. Um I've always been a Tito taylor. So I've never drank, never smoked, never taken any drugs um Always physically active growing up. So I was always represented uh sport cricket and tennis and soccer regionally. Um So very you know export is a part of my D. N. A. Um I applied for the military. That was my first uh sort of career progression that I would have preferred. Um I got through the medical without any indications or any notes or any feedback coming back from the medical team in the military saying that I might have had a heart condition. Um And then I went to a civilian career in at an airline and in advertising. Um So the morning routine so this was just an ordinary Wednesday. I was still at the internship, I was just working unpaid. Uh But woke up in my grandparents house, I was halfway home um made my way to the train station, got a red bull from the convenience store and then took my Red Bull to work. Uh Every single morning I'd wake up I'd walk in with this Red bull. Um My boss at the time was kind of like the office mom and every single morning show Jamie you're gonna have a heart attack one day. Um And then one day uh came about. Um So I was actually lucky enough to get a hold of my E. M. T. Paramedics report from the event. This was only last year. So this is you know almost a decade of not actually knowing what happened. Um So it's a really interesting read. Um So the call came in at 805 A. M. Unconscious suspected cardiac arrest I just decided No so I tell everybody now always just to impress. Um For quite sobering reason I think there is actually some like social psychology evidence to back this up. But um the bystanders who I got to meet after the fact and sort of spoke to about what they saw when when I collapsed. They said that the only reason they stopped was because I was wearing a suit for my internship. So if I wasn't wearing a suit that day I probably wouldn't have got the help I needed in time. Or the the ambulance wouldn't have been called in time. Um And then I was in an area known for drug and alcohol abuse or other by center just literally walked over my body as I was on the ground. Um So yeah so make sure you always looking your best. But so 8:11. So six minutes later was when the paramedics finally arrived at the scene. Um So you know their initial primary survey. No response, no breathing, no circulation. My skin was cyanotic. So you know at this point it's pretty much dead. Um VF. Course on the C. G. So they started immediately with some oxygen therapy. The first defibrillation 200 jewels, small bag. 300 joules defibrillation. Uh and they did manage to get a recorded Rhythm. 1 16. After about 16 minutes of being uh treated. But then I reverted. Uh So I went back into side to plant um requiring 300 jewels to fibrillation. 3 63 60 jewel defibrillation adrenaline administered through ivy. Another 3 60 drilled fibrillation. Uh And then more adrenaline through ivy. And then after 29 minutes they got their risk um transported back to the hospital and the notes written on the reporter that I was agitated and showing scientific or ticket posturing which I found out later isn't a very good sign either. Um So that was number one I woke up after a two day coma. So I didn't really know what happened. I sort of it's hard for you know for me it happened to another Jamie. It didn't really happen to me. Um I just woke up and they told me what had happened. But my mom was actually a nurse. She is a nurse and she was actually working at the hospital I got brought into. And so she was while I was in the resource bay. Um And yeah so they said I was put under ice straight away. Uh And then induced into medical coma. I was transported to the Prince House Hospital in Australia into the critical care unit. And she was told that probably wouldn't wake up or I would wake up with severe brain damage. Uh So luckily two days later I did wake up they inserted the electronics I. C. D. Uh And I think I have no signs of brain injury. Like you know how do you how do you tell if you have a brain injury um That what they did sort of find out and what they told me was that I had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Um so obviously there's a thickening of the of the heart over the years. We did some since that event over the years we've done some genetic testing. Um there is a genetic history within my family of the gene. Um I have an aunt who passed away from heart failure. She had a son who passed away from what was attributed as a cot death back in the 80s which we now retrospectively assume was hokum and a sudden cardiac arrest. Um But pretty much it's a 50 50 split of my family um who have now presented themselves with Hokum and had I. C. D. S implanted. Um You can't really see. So there are faded out. So from my grandmother's level she had six Children. Three of them require have Hokum of the three that have Hokum 10 grandchildren and five of the grandchildren have them. Of the grandchildren. There are four great grandchildren and two of the great grandchildren have the thing. So it's literally a 50 50 split. And that seems what's also missing from this sort of family tree is that of the non uh Hokum family members. There's another three grandchildren don't have it. There's also another three great grandchildren who don't have it. So it's not like a it seems not to be a risk it like a hidden gene. You either have it or you don't have it. So back to normal uh within two weeks I think I was discharged from the hospital I had you know I sort of like micro community seems to forget about it joke about it as you may when you're talking to me and I got back to sort of life as I knew it so you know all night partying um I didn't sleep for 24 hours drank Red Bull and then climbed a mountain and nothing happened. Um I went on all the this was actually I think six weeks after the cardiac arrest I went to a local theme park and there's all the signs that said you know don't go on this ride if you have a heart condition that I remember specifically wearing a wet shirt so that you couldn't see the scar of my I. c. d. uh and went up to the top there and went down the ride and then I got to celebrate my 21st birthday about two months two months after. So number two had been 18 months now. Um I probably deserved this one. Um So as I said you know I've gone back to partying going back to you know doing stupid stuff. I was over at my cousin's place uh all night on Red Bull playing video games. Um I came back downstairs we sort of called it a night after about seven a.m. And then as I got back downstairs I forgot something, ran back upstairs downstairs upstairs a couple of times as I collected myself and as I got downstairs again for the final time I just remember thinking to myself Jesus Christ I'm unfit like that that really hurt like to try and run up and down those stairs and so I just assumed I was just unfit, you know, it's been 18 months, I hadn't, I'd forgotten about my cardiac arrest, so that wasn't in my mind at all, but it still wasn't sort of settling down even once I had laid down in bed. Uh so I went to the okay, we'll go up and get my medication as I went up and got my medication, I just remember like someone turning the volume of the world up and just everything got super loud uh and then dead quiet. Um So I wake up, I was laying on my back um I was just staring at the roof and it was a really surreal feeling because I felt like I had eight hours sleep. I felt like I felt like I could jump up and run a marathon, like I felt great. Um and then I just sort of, you know, I had thought like, wasn't I have my cousins yesterday, like how did I have an eight hour sleep if I stayed up all night? It's just really surreal feeling of, you know, what is reality? Like did yesterday actually happened? Yeah, I realized I was then lying on the floor in the kitchen, put two and two together and decided to call for help, but then I started going back to normal 23 weeks later, sort of back to partying back to hiking through the mountains, back to international travel and riding theme park rides that tell you not to ride them with that heart condition. Um And then I moved to England. So about six months after the second cardiac arrest, I moved from Australia to London. Um was on a whim I just applied for a visa, got it back on a Wednesday, went to the travel agent on thursday, and then I flew out on the saturday. So within the span of a week I was like, mom, I'm going to London and see you later. Um so that that and the first impression I had of England was that the train network is not built for people who are afraid of stairs. Um so I had, you know, 30 kg of luggage trying to carry it around up and down stairs. Again, from my point of view, nothing happened and I didn't even think of it. Um But there's this thing I found out later, there's a phenomenon, at least in the UK that some of the survivors called the postcode lottery. Um And that sort of, it's that your post code determines your level of care, post cardiac arrest. Um And how well you treated generally. Um And I gather I one living and working in central London, I think definitely helped. I was assigned to cardiologist Dr Amanda Van over from the Imperial College Health System. Um And her clinic was literally across the road from my home, so I couldn't have got any closer or quicker care from that. Um And my sort of entire cardiology treatment was done at ST mary's Hospital in London which is you know where the Royals have their babies. Um And then it turns out that there were actually 60 cardiac events registered on my I. C. D. Just from the move alone since I last had a cardiac checkup. So maybe those stairs weren't as weren't as easy as I thought they were at the time I was changed to metropolis to buy supper law which I guess there's regional differences in Australia and England uh medication. So I've been living in London for about 12 months at that point. And then thursday came around. It was a normal thursday sorry been in about nine months um 18 months since the second one. So again like well and truly forgotten about it. I was living life in London. Didn't even cross my mind that I had a heart condition at any point. I was walking to work halfway down. I felt a little flutter like a twinge. I don't know how to explain it. Maybe just a palpitation. I looked I stopped and looked in a shop mirror and I literally looked ghost white and I remember thinking like jesus I need to go get a tan. Like I'm looking really pale but again I didn't think anything of that. I was like alright well yeah I'll get a tan tomorrow and we'll go about business. Um But I continued walking and as I got towards the office I felt this sort of this feeling of my heart accelerating uncontrollably. I saw some colleagues across the road. We're having a cigarette break and I was like okay well if I just pretend that I'm going to say hello I'll take a sit I'll take I'll take a breather uh and wait it out. But I've been told later that you can't wait these things out, they don't go away by themselves. And so then I wake up on my colleague's shoulder. Um And I sort of figured what had happened. He asked me if I was okay and I said no I think I'm about to die and cardiac arrest. Um So a colleague came with me to the hospital. Um It was quite funny like I joke about it as you can tell I was joking about in the ambulance joking about it in the emergency department. And the cardiologist came in. He's like I don't think you've had a cardiac arrest cause cardiac arrest patients don't come in smiling. And about five minutes later he walked back in with the I. C. D. Report and he's like yeah you had a cardiac arrest. So sometimes we do come in smiling. I was kept overnight. And then yeah just incidentally there's a softball game on the Wednesday night and the girl who leads the softball bread and email to all staff saying I know you're all dying to know who won the softball. And I replied back the next day actually I literally did die to know who won the softball. She didn't find that as funny as I did. So number four and five. So literally the next thursday I went back to work on monday. Um I've been told from my second one that generally after 15 minutes of receiving I. C. D. Therapy that you should be good to go and you should be back to normal. Um So I took that to heart so I went back to work on the monday. No problems made it to the office. Didn't get that twinge or that flood of feeling when I crossed the you know completely normal day made it to the stairs. There's four flights of stairs at our office that I had to climb each morning. Um And then yeah new york taxis, car horns and overground train is how I describe it. Um I don't know if you've seen like friends or like any other sort of nineties sitcoms where they do a segue between scenes and they'll like like mash cut all these different like shots together. Um That's literally sort of what I dreamt or what I sort of felt at that time. Um And literally knowing that I was sort of one of my weirdest thoughts in my life is I was just like well thank you know what I was dreaming because it means I'm still alive and my brain's still working. Um And then yeah so 30 seconds later my heart went back into VF. Um So I did ask this wasn't just a repeat shock that was an actual separate cardiac event. Um I wake up so I had woken up at the bottom of the stairs. Um I was just sort of laying there trying to recover and then I felt my heart go accelerating again a second time and then thud I got the shock. It was the first time I've actually been awake to feel the I. C. D. Deliver therapy. Uh And because the time zone difference is the only way my mom could find out was through facebook. So I would think it was like two or three in the morning in Australia. So I put a post on facebook just to let everybody know that I was okay. So number six again after those two start to cardiac arrest I went back to work on the monday. Um Again you know my my So the coping mechanism of trying to forget about it made me want to go back to work straight away. And then the 3rd Thursday in the road came about And I had number six. so they kept me over in the hospital for the weekend for observation and they discharged me. Everything was fine but I sort of started going to work. Um It was in the rain so was power walking a little bit moving a little bit faster than normal I got to the front door and I felt that feeling I felt like the twinge and then the uncontrollable acceleration I started calling it the eight seconds of dying because at the last time I was discharged the I. C. D. The technician told me that once the I. C. D. Detects an abnormal rhythm it takes about eight seconds for it to charge up and then to deliver therapy. So in those eight seconds I imagine that I am feeling the effects of the pre pre V. F. Rhythm or the or the VT that's happening. Um And so I was already at the front door I tried to call for help but I literally couldn't figure out how to use the keypad that I'd used 1000 times before. I assume my brain wasn't getting enough oxygen at that point. Um So I sat down and just thought of my mom. What do you do when you have five seconds left to live? Is kind of like what I ask people when you think about that moment. Um And then thought so I was awake for that shock. Uh And coincidentally it was the same paramedic all three times who came in treated me. Um And so he said to me when he came to cities like three times in a row now I'm going to get breakfast at the cafe around the corner and the calls coming about you before I can get to the Q and pay. Um, So he said, I might, I might just wait an hour next week before I have breakfast. Um, and so Dr van I call that a storm again. I went, I didn't go back to work on monday after that one. I figured, you know, for cardiac arrest is probably a sign that I shouldn't be going back to work as eagerly as I was. I told Dr Van Dover, she called us, uh, she had a look and said that my heart may not last five years, which was not great to hear at 25 years old. Um, she put me on amiodarone and spironolactone. Um, and then I cried. Uh, so it was definitely like a bit shook from that period. It was, you know, the first time I sort of realized that I was maybe showing signs of PTSD um stopping at stairs, stopping just in the middle of the street. If I felt anything that kind of resembled a flood or a twinge, I knew I was listening to my heart too much, but it was, you know, something that I guess I was still trying to get over like at this point, it was definitely getting a little bit harder to forget that I had a heart condition than than I would have liked. Um, but otherwise I got back to normal, thankfully I was at a really great workplace. They flew my mom over to London from Australia. They put her up in a hotel, um all paid for by them. They even got me a driver to drive me to and from work every morning for the next month or so. Um they're probably like now looking back, it's probably just a bit of guilt that they killed me four times working for them, but either way I appreciated the drive. Um went back to international travel, climbing mountains, going about doing things as normal as I could and then number seven came along. Um So I killed this one killed with kindness. I've been six months, so again, at this point I pretty much started to forget that the other ones that happened, I jogged across the road like, you know, not even thinking that that would be an issue, Jogged back to work and I practically skipped up the stairs thinking and I was quite proud of myself, I was like, all right, like I don't have ptsd anymore, like I skipped up the stairs, I can jog uh and then I probably should have taken a break at that point, but my HR manager followed me up and she started talking to me and then maybe it's the britishness that was rubbing off on me, but I didn't want to be impolite and not talk back to her. So I started the conversation and followed her into the office without taking a break. About halfway back to my desk. I felt the twinge. I felt that feeling and felt what I call the eight seconds of dying happening. Um and then I was like, okay, well if I just make it back to my desk, I'll sit down, it will go away by itself and it will all be okay. Unfortunately, didn't I go back to my desk and I remember her writing my name on a white board three times. Uh but no, that didn't happen. I wake up and I was getting lowered to the ground by my colleagues and pretty much half the office was standing around me in a semicircle. Uh so, another dream with that one. So yeah, there I say it back to normal again for the seventh time. At this point, I think I'm becoming a pro at dying uh and handling the cardiac arrest. Um I definitely gained confidence that I know what that eight seconds of dying feels like uh and being able to identify that feeling. Um but I was still showing those signs of PTSD stopping uh inappropriately. And a therapist tried to take me on a walk and he's like, when you feel those eight seconds or you feel that feeling, let's just keep walking. So I did. I kept walking and I went straight into a non sustained episode of VT. Um so it was the last time I saw that counselor as well and I sort of made a resolution that if I feel my heart flutter, I'm just gonna stop what I'm doing and I'm not gonna care where I actually am or what I'm doing. Uh so I went back to Australia, eight months had passed on, I had to get my visa renewed, you know, pain um and then, so first time back on a 24 hour flight, I remember like there was a moment when I was on the plane that I really struggled to breathe, like I felt like I just couldn't get enough breath. Um and I don't know if that was anything to the heart or not, but it was sort of building into this preacher that flying was getting a little bit uncomfortable in general. Um and then thursday came around to get again, so I don't know if there is something about thursday's or if it's just that time of the week that my heart decides it's had enough. Um but so I was at the airport, my grandfather was in hospital, we got the call that it was serious, so we should come up um got to this at the Australian airport, once you did board, you have to actually walk back upstairs, there is no elevator or escalator to get back into the terminal. So I walked up the stairs in my luggage and then I felt that twinge, I felt the eight seconds of dying feeling and I thought I just slowly make my way out to the terminal. I dropped my luggage, sat down on the ground and a girl asked if I was okay and no, I was just shook my head and thud. I got the shock. My mom didn't notice she had kept walking. She was obviously upset about her father being in hospital and I got a phone call from her show where the f are you and I was like, I'm back at the gate, I died again. But luckily, I mean luckily I guess I don't know what the best word for it is serendipitously maybe. Um that was probably one of the worst weeks for our family. Um So I declined paramedic support. I literally just hopped up after my cardiac arrest and walked out of the airport by myself. Um and we kept going on to my grandparents, we learned that my family dog, our family dog had died unfortunately. And then a couple of days later my grandfather died in hospital. So in one week my mom lost her dog, her dad, and potentially maybe me as well. Um but yeah, so the fact that that was when I was there for my Visa renewal was serendipitous that I got to be there for my family. Yeah, eight times now, back to normal. Um was definitely like I knew I should be learning lessons. I was trying to take things. I hadn't had a red bull since the second episode. So I was, you know, small steps, I was learning some things. Um Flying still started to feel a little bit worse. So I flew to France for a holiday and when I got off the plane I went into an episode of un sustained VT. Um Again I'm not sure if flying is that there's any correlation to that, but it definitely sort of built this picture in my head that I needed to take more notes than flying. Um So yeah so that had made four cardiac events, one VF and a few to Vts and just general uneasiness from flying. So um be a climbing towers, going to Vegas to the heart attack grill I don't know if anyone's heard of it. Uh It's literally a place where they sell bypass burgers. Uh And so they've got the triple bypass, the quadruple bypass. Uh It's a really it's a crazy place, I mean it's Vegas. Uh and you know what the novelty of it is that you wear a hospital gown while you're there and that's actually supposed to be your napkin which wasn't really a novelty for me. That's just kind of like a regular thursday at this point, so just like you know this is fine. Um But the outgoing, you know again so they're ignoring the warnings going down their plans. Uh And then at that point Dr Vanover recommended me for a transplant. Um So I went to the hair field hospital uh and got my transplant assessment there. Um The result is that like yes I need a transplant. It it's a definite um But I don't need one right now I'm not sure on the technicalities of the system and in terms of who goes on the list and who doesn't go on the list. Um But the basically I do need a heart transplant at some point. Um So number nine. So yeah so uh while I was getting my heart transplant assessment done I've had a couple of CPT exams and every single time the physicians they tell you know like oh don't worry it's safe you're in a hospital and they actually turn off your I. C. D. And they turn it off so that they can prevent inappropriate shocks. Which is you know ironic in this case but they attach like the external defibrillator and they tell you know it'll be fine the external defibrillators will save you and you're like well I don't, the point isn't being saved. The point is I don't want to have a cardiac arrest in the first place. Um But yeah so I've been I previously to the two times I canceled the test so there's always the option just to stop exercising and some of you probably know that you don't restart the test after that point. Um and so but this time I was resolved to complete it I've been playing tennis being healthy felt like I could get through the 10 minutes this time. Um after about six minutes in I felt the twinge. I felt the feeling I felt the eight seconds of dying. I knew it was coming so I tried to stop and I was sorry I didn't want to stop because I still wanted to resolve myself maybe to just walk working through it like I did with the counselor. Um But I told the physiologist I was like no I felt the feeling I really want to stop. Um And then I remember the nurse putting her hand on my back and she said no no there's nothing on the C. D. You're fine. And then about two seconds later I saw the physician smashed the emergency stop button on the treadmill he shouted I need some help in here and then I was out um I had a dream that I was um on the ground watching myself run on a treadmill. And I remember thinking like why am I like why am I dreaming right now? Like wasn't I supposed to be on the treadmill? Uh And then there's just sort of this general warm yellow feeling, I don't know how to explain. I'm not religious and I don't believe in the afterlife that I can understand why some people may attribute those. Uh And so when I woke up you know code blue lights there were a dozen doctors and team around me the physician was still doing cpr on my chest and the nurse was providing oxygen therapy over my face. Um And so yeah, it's a surreal experience to wake up to somebody performing cPr on you while you're awake. And this photo was taken. Uh One of the organizers here before asked me like why did I take a photo when I literally just survived a cardiac arrest. Um and my response is because that's the only way my mom would find out that I was like, okay and I was actually still alive. So that went straight on facebook within minutes of a cardiac arrest. Uh And then yeah, so one of the funny things I overheard the nurse then talked to one of the other doctors or stuff in the in the room at the time and she's like, oh it's funny, he felt it coming before anything showed up on the CG and all I could think of was fucking told you. So um obviously I didn't say that part out loud, but it was definitely something I was going through my mind. Um and then this is probably not the best thing to talk to around cardiologists about. But the first thing I did after I got a way out of hospital that time was went straight to Mcdonald's. Um it's like I said, I've been eating healthy that week and I sort of made a resolution if I was gonna have a last meal. If I was gonna die potentially tomorrow, then I'm not going to have a crappy salad. So I went to get the fattest juiciest tastiest thing I could at the time, but otherwise four years have now passed. Hadn't had a cardiac arrest, hadn't really had any bad feelings. I definitely reduced my activity at that point. So I wasn't doing hikes, I wasn't going on crazy adventures anymore. And so that maybe helped me stay alive for four years at one at one time. But then I was Covid came along survive lockdown. I shielded for most of it, luckily I had a job where I could work from home. Um and then I had inappropriate shocks. Um So also they tell me um it was 31st of March the night before. April Fools april 1st. Uh and I was making my bed again perfectly normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. And as I was making my bed I felt a twinge and not the full eight seconds of dying feeling there is a difference, but I felt the twinge so I stopped what I was doing, started to listen to my heart. Just trying to feel if it was getting uncontrollable acceleration. Uh it felt like it was so I made my way to the door to get help from my flatmates and at that point thud, I got my first treatment, I sat down called for help thud. Got my second treatment. 3rd 3rd treatment, 3rd, 4th, and then 3rd, 5th and then you know it's fine to say it's inappropriate shocks now. But you don't know that at the time you're getting the shock. So at the time I was literally like well sh it like this is the first time I've needed multiple shocks to help resolve the issue. So every time I was like why isn't that shock working? Okay well why didn't the third shock work? Why didn't the full shock work? And then so every shock you just kind of think okay ship well this is the end this is the final final treatment. But um yeah apparently it was inappropriate. Um So on april fools they came in and told me that surprise you didn't have any cardiac event. It was just normal S. V. T. Um But again I kind of don't believe it. I mean I trust you know you guys know what you're doing the machines know what they're doing. Um But there is still in the back of my mind this thought that a 12 lead E. C. D. Couldn't pick up the feeling I had before my last cardiac arrest. So is there something that an I. C. D. Can't pick up or doesn't show up on scans or gets overlooked that causes me to have these feelings because it wasn't just so they on their report on the discharge notes they said was performing mild exercise and received inappropriate shocks. And I wasn't like yes I've been making my bed beforehand. But I wasn't just in the middle of the bed throw and then bang. I felt the shock. I had felt a feeling stopped, had enough time to walk to the door and said on myself it didn't settle and then I got shocked. So surely if it was normal S. V. T. I should have come like it should have come down by that point I wasn't doing mild exercise anyway I could go on all day about that. um so yeah so it's been 13 years now since pretty much everything started. So I was 20 and I'm now 33. Um I've been able to live a full life. You know for me it's crazy like I come from a poor single mom from a small town called Karen Mundy in Australia 6000 population and now I'm living in London, been to new york. Tokyo and I was supposed to have died at 20 as well. So like it's just it's crazy where I've come, you know travel the U. S. In europe multiple times. Uh And if there's one thing I've learned is that just don't take anything for granted. Even the smallest things like the fact that we're all sitting here in a in a conference room in Berlin like that should just blow your minds like I think that's just amazing. Um And yeah I just wanted to say it's all thanks to you guys thanks to the organizers, thanks to all of you like what you learn here and what you take back to your hospitals and what you discuss and move forward. That creates patients like me and hopefully there'll be other patients like me that come and speak to you in the following years and you guys will see them in your practice. I'm sure day to day. But yeah, so I'd say thanks. Created by
