'My heart stopped six times in a DAY - now I want a career in the NHS like those who saved me'
22.10.2023 - 08:37
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A 21-year-old student whose heart stopped six times in a DAY said he is using his second chance at life to join the NHS.
Atul Raohad collapsed while at Imperial College London and received CPR from a security guard until ambulance crews arrived to take him to Hammersmith Hospital, where he was later diagnosed with pulmonary embolism, where blood clots in the lungs block the flow of blood through the heart.
During the first 24 hours in hospital, Atul’s heart stopped again five more times. Eventually the clot-busting drugs set in and his heart started to tick reliably, but he was critically unwell the next day.
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Atul was sent to St Thomas’ Hospital just under seven miles away where he had access to a life support system that could replace the heart and lungs in order to allow patients the time to heal, which is known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
But the student made a “remarkable recovery” without needing an ECMO. He was discharged from St Thomas’ Hospital two weeks after the first heart attack on July 27 this year. He was discharged from St Thomas’ Hospital two weeks later.
Atul, from Seattle in Texas, was in his final year of a pre-med degree at Baylor University, Waco, which would allow him to study a further degree to practise medicine. Before the incident, he had contemplated heading to a career in business but his time in hospital made him change his mind.
“Before this happened, I was starting to wonder if I was doing the right thing doing medicine and whether I should be going into business instead,” Atul told Hammersmith