It’s supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
An Australian fitness instructor recalled the life-changing moment he died for 28 minutes after suffering a heart attack during a recreational basketball game.
Phill Zdybel, 57, from Geelong, Victoria, has described his “out-of-body” experience and the feeling of looking down on himself from above.
“I’m a miracle man,” he told the Geelong Advertiser in a Tuesday story, adding, “I was not going anywhere.”
Zdybel, who is a taekwondo instructor, collapsed and went into cardiac arrest in November after suffering a coronary artery aneurysm.
As his son, Joshua, called paramedics, an off-duty nurse who also happened to be at the gym leapt into action to revive him with CPR.
The father was soon rushed to the hospital, where he lay unconscious for three days as he convalesced following the ordeal as well as surgery to insert a lifesaving stent. When Zdybel came to, he was told he’d technically been dead for 28 minutes.
Zdybel has said that he owes his life to basketball and its fans, as there were so many people around to help him.
“No one would have found me” otherwise, he said.
The dad was discharged after a week at Geelong Hospital. He credits being in shape and having a positive attitude with aiding his recovery.
“It’s all about your mindset [that’s] going to keep you going,” he wrote in an inspirational Facebook post. “In my books, there is only one key element [which is] hard physical training, but each to their own.”
The martial artist says his near-miss with death has changed the way he approaches life — and even made him reconsider retiring from combat sports.
“All the little things we worry about are not worth worrying about,” he told the Advertiser — just days after competing in a tournament with his son, the outlet reported. “Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do anything.”
Zdybel hopes his story might inspire others to get certified in CPR, as it might just save someone’s life.
“Everyone needs to do CPR and all workplaces’ sports venues and the like should have defibrillators on hand,” he urged.
An estimated 356,000 Americans annually will suffer cardiac arrest at home or in public, according to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, and nearly 90% of these cases are fatal.