I ‘died’ for 28 minutes when I had a heart attack and collapsed. Here’s what I saw on the other side
- Phill Zdybel collapsed while playing basketball
- He survived a cardiac arrest, which is often fatal
- Mr Zdybel recounted the remarkable experience
There were no white lights or pearly gates when a fitness instructor suffered a cardiac arrest during a game of basketball and dropped dead for 28 harrowing minutes.
Instead, Phill Zdybel, 57, felt like he was floating above and looking down on his own body while an off-duty nurse tried desperately to revive him.
‘I would say I was a bit out of body,’ he told the Geelong Advertiser.
But as the Taekwondo instructor from Geelong hovered above, he had a feeling it wasn’t his time to go and discovered a new perspective on life.
Phill Zdybel, a fit taekwondo instructor, collapsed due to a cardiac arrest during a game of basketball in Geelong. (Pictured, Josh and Phill Zdybel)
Mr Zdybel was dead for 28 harrowing minutes
What dying REALLY feels like, according to survivors of near-death experiences
What dying REALLY feels like, according to survivors of near-death experiences
Martin Holloway (pictured), 64, was taken to hospital with blood clots, heart failure and colon issues in 2019
‘All the little things we worry about are not worth worrying about,’ he said.
‘Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do anything.
‘I was not going out anywhere.’
He had collapsed due to a coronary artery aneurysm at the busy court, which triggered a full-blown cardiac arrest.
His son, Joshua, was watching him play that day and saw him hit the ground.
He rushed to phone Triple-0, while an off-duty nurse who happened to be courtside immediately started CPR.
Onlookers also grabbed the defibrillator from the basketball courts at the Belmont facility.
He believes it was a ‘miracle’ his cardiac arrest unfolded with so many people around to help.
It could just as easily have happened while he was exercising alone, in his job driving a cab for people with disabilities or even in his sleep.
‘No one would have found me,’ he said.
Of the patients who suffer a cardiac arrest away from a hospital ‘less than eight per cent’ survive, according to Heart Research Australia.
Mr Zdybel was discharged after a week at Geelong Hospital, where he had a stent installed.
He considered giving up martial arts but has already returned to competition, alongside his son.
The quick actions of Mr Zdybel’s son Josh (left) were a major reason he survived
Mr Zdybel has also become an advocate for CPR training and is adamant more defibrillators should be available to the public
He believes his fitness and attitude were the keys to his survival.
Mr Zdybel has also become an advocate for CPR training and is adamant more defibrillators should be available to the public.
Defibrillators send an electric pulse or shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat.
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