Age 25 Dad-To-Be Collapses in Shower, Learns of Heart Infection from Common Cold in ER
The human body is a strange mixture of hardiness and fragility. One the one hand, people can lift entire cars when they feel threatened, survive multiple gunshot wounds or overcome devastating illnesses.
Yet individuals can also fall prey to seemingly insignificant things. Just consider what happened to 25-year-old Jake Anderson.
According to People, Anderson was a young man with a bright future. A newlywed, he and his wife Paige were expecting their first child in July.
However, in December, Anderson came down with a common cold. That’s not exactly a strange occurrence in the chilly last month of the year.
While dealing with the expected congestion and fatigue, he hoped the steam of a hot shower on Dec. 30 would help. That was when things turned scary.
Paige said she heard her husband collapse and saw his eyes roll back into his head.
Anderson’s heart had suddenly stopped. Paige immediately began to administer CPR.
“I could feel him going cold underneath my hands as I was pumping on his chest,” she said. “Who would think you’d go to shower to relieve congestion and your heart would just stop?”
She also told KMOV, “You get no warning. That’s the scary part about it.”
Why would an otherwise healthy young man go into heart failure? Doctors believe that Anderson had developed myocarditis.
The Mayo Clinic defines myocarditis as an inflammation of the heart. Though it can sometimes be caused by medications, it most often arises due to a virus — like the common cold.
What was thought to be the common cold sends St. Charles man to the ICU https://t.co/ozhb1rupoh #KMOV pic.twitter.com/nQpv9krjlq
— KMOV (@KMOV) January 3, 2019
That was exactly what happened to Anderson, and it almost cost him his life. A GoFundMe page explained that paramedics had to work on him for 40 minutes before establishing a heartbeat.
But establish it they did. Physicians placed him in a coma to protect his brain and organs.
They also told Paige that she should be ready to sign off on a “Do Not Resuscitate” order. Then after three days, they brought Anderson out of the coma and held their collective breath, waiting to see what would happen.
Amazingly, he began to move his hands and feet. He also responded to voices.
Doctors credited Paige with saving her husband’s life. If not for her quick use of CPR, Anderson certainly would’ve faced irreparable brain damage or worse.
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