Heart attack victim saved by hypothermia after lying unconscious for 18 hours

A Frenchman who survived despite having no heartbeat for 18 hours was saved by hypothermia.

The unnamed 53-year-old suffered a heart attack while out walking and was discovered lying unconscious by a river. It was found that he was suffering from hypothermia, with a body temperature of 22C (instead of the normal 37C), and this helped protect his brain and other organs.

However, doctors put him on a heart-lung machine after initial attempts at heart massage failed. This kept him alive until his temperature rose sufficiently for doctors to attempt to revive his heart again.

Although the heart massage broke some of his ribs, the man appears to be otherwise unharmed. “The probability of him surviving was near to zero,” said Dr Jonathan Charbit of Montpellier University Hospital. The case, he added, was an “extraordinary medical and human adventure”. And a testament to modern medicine.