In a near-miraculous incident, doctors in Australia have saved the life of a 41-year-old woman who was clinically dead for 42 minutes after suffering a major heart attack.
Vanessa Tanasio was rushed to hospital last week after the heart attack, but was declared clinically dead soon after arrival.
Doctors at Melbourne's MonashHeart hospital managed to unblock vital arteries and return her heart to a normal rhythm, using a high-tech machine that kept blood flowing to Tanasio's brain, AAP news agency reported.
Hospital authorities described her survival as "astonishing".
Tanasio, a mother of two from Narre Warren, Melbourne, needed numerous defibrillator shocks, including one in the ambulance on her way to hospital, doctors said.
"I'm feeling excellent. For someone who has been dead for nearly an hour of this week I am feeling tremendously well," Tanasio said.
Emergency medics used a device called LUCAS 2 to keep her blood flowing while doctors worked to unblock the arteries to her heart.
Tanasio, a sales representative, said she had no history of heart problems, the report said.
"This has taken me completely by surprise. I am relieved to still be here for my children," she said.
