A fitness instructor who was clinically dead for 28 minutes after suffering a heart attack during a basketball game has described the “out-of-body” experience he believes he witnessed. Phill Zdybel, 57, a taekwondo instructor from Geelong, Victoria, Australia, said he had a strange sensation of looking down on himself and what was happening from above after dying.
Heart Attack During a Basketball Match
Zdybel suffered the heart attack during a casual basketball match. His son, Joshua, called the paramedics, and an off-duty nurse who happened to be at the gym immediately took action, reviving Zdybel using CPR.
He was then rushed to hospital, where he lay unconscious for three days while recovering from the incident. He needed surgery to fit a stent.
Revealing the 28 Minutes
It was only after waking up that Zdybel discovered he had been clinically dead for 28 minutes. He says he owes his life to basketball and its supporters, noting that there were more than enough people in the gym to help him when things turned scary. He said he doubts anyone would have discovered him otherwise.
Zdybel spent a week at Geelong Hospital and said his speedy recovery came down to his positive mental attitude and being in great physical shape.
Mindset and Recovery
“It's all about your mindset [that's] going to keep you going,” he wrote on Facebook after the scare. “In my books, there is only one key element, [which is] hard physical training, but each to their own.”
The martial artist now claims his brush with death has led him to rethink retiring from combat sports. “All the little things we worry about are not worth worrying about,” he told the Advertiser days after competing in a competition alongside his son. “Don't let anyone tell you you can't do anything.”
Call for CPR Training
Zdybel shared his hope that his experience might encourage others to learn CPR, which can be life-saving. “Everyone needs to do CPR, and all workplaces, sports venues and the like should have defibrillators on hand,” he said.
Around 40,000 to 43,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur each year in the UK, with a survival rate of less than 10 per cent, according to the British Heart Foundation.
