A Barcelona-based English teacher, Audrey Mash, aged 34, survived a six-hour cardiac arrest, the longest in Spanish medical history and one of the longest ever documented in the world. Her heart stopped due to severe hypothermia while on an autumn hike in the Pyrenees mountains.
Cardiac arrest in the snow
Mash and her husband Rohan Schoeman, both British nationals and keen trekking and outdoor enthusiasts, became lost on November 3rd due to a heavy snowstorm while hiking near the Coma de Vaca refuge, close to the Catalan mountain resort of Núria, 130km north of Barcelona. Due to the severe cold, Mash lapsed into hypothermia, a condition which causes the body temperature to fall below the normal 37 degrees Celsius. She lost consciousness and her heart stopped.
When a Catalan Fire Service rescue team found the couple, Mash's body temperature was only 18 degrees Celsius. The first aid actions carried out by the rescuers helped the English teacher have a chance to survive later, as well as the action of her husband, who made every effort to keep his wife warm while waiting for the rescue.
Helicopter transfer to Barcelona
A helicopter then transferred Mash to Barcelona's Vall d'Hebron Hospital, where her body temperature on arrival was still only 20 degrees Celsius, a severe hypothermia. The medical team had already prepared the entire operation involving Intensive Medicine, Heart Surgery, Anesthesiology and Reanimation.
Six hours later, her heart beats again
Audrey Mash was then transferred to the Intensive Care Unit after passing through the operating theatre - with her heart still not beating, but connected to an ECMO life support machine to oxygenate and pump her blood. Her body temperature gradually rose. The medical team attempted to restart her heart through defibrillation and eventually, after six hours of cardiac arrest, her heart began to beat once again.
One month later, Mash has basically returned to normal life; due to the extreme cold she endured, she still lacks full sensitivity and movement in her hands, but apart from that is in perfect shape. She hopes to return to the mountains - although not just yet.