[classicman]

West Palm Beach man dead for 16-20 minutes, lives to tell about it

Charles Morgan was taking a smoke break from his evening shift at a West Palm Beach car dealership when he dropped dead of a massive heart attack. He was 52.

More than two months later, Morgan has no recollection of any of it. Not his boss' CPR efforts, or the crowd that milled around in horror, or the paramedics who brought him back to life with advanced emergency equipment most fire departments have yet to acquire.

The real stunner, even to the men who saved him: He suffered no brain damage or other ill effects, even though his heart had stopped beating for 16 to 20 minutes.

"I'm a lucky man," said the grandfather of two.

Anyone who hears his story would agree. But luck played only one role in the resurrection of Charles Morgan. The car salesman's renewed lease on life is also a credit to quick-thinking co-workers, well-trained paramedics and, especially, an effective combination of cutting-edge lifesaving equipment that made all the difference that December day.

The American Heart Association estimates that fewer than 8 percent of those who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital survive, and the vast majority of them are left with some level of debilitating brain damage.

Morgan is not the first to beat those ugly odds, though he joins a rare fraternity of symptom-free survivors.

Link