Sara Brautigam is not afraid of death as she experiences it almost regularly, in one year she was even pronounced clinically dead 36 times!
A 21-year-old woman from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, has a rare heart condition called Postural orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS), which makes her heart stop beating and blood pressure to plummet. Each time Ms Brautigam’s heart stops medics have to inflict pain on her to shock her into coming back to life.
In this photo taken from the video, Sara Brautigam lies on a hospital bed with her heart beating rapidly
Speaking about her condition the woman said, “When it happens paramedics try and do anything to inflict pain to try and shock me into coming back to life. A lot of the time I’ll wake up with big bruises. On one occasion they ripped an acrylic nail off but that still didn’t make me flinch.”
Trying to prepare for the attacks Ms Brautigam learnt to recognize its oncoming symptoms, “There are signs before it happens – I’ll feel dizzy or sick and really tired and then I feel as though I’m falling asleep. I can hear everything around me and feel as though I’m trying to shout but nothing is coming out. They say when you die your hearing is the last thing to go and that’s been my experience.
After an attack I’ll wake up and my chest will be killing and I’m really tired. I get asked it quite a lot, but there is definitely no bright light. Everything just goes black. You can still hear things and there is a voice in my head that is still active and still conscious and it is trying to communicate with those around me. I can remember what people are saying when I black out but have no other awareness of what’s going on.”
The young woman could no longer take part in canoe sport and even getting a job and and driving were affected by the condition. She added, “I had 10 years of being out every weekend canoeing and being so active and it all came crashing down. I piled on the weight because I couldn’t exercise and was really upset. All my dreams came crashing down, I lost a lot of friends, in fact I only have one friend from school.
Ms Brautigam lies in a hospital bed after undergoing one of her regular episodes caused by her heart condition
Everyone seemed to be too busy with their own lives to bother with me when I was diagnosed. I can’t even work at the minute because I would need a job that could be very flexible. Then I was told I couldn’t drive, it was like everything was being taken away from me. I lost a lot of friends, in fact I only have one friend from school. Everyone seemed to be too busy with their own lives to bother with me when I was diagnosed.”
