A woman who went into cardiac arrest mid-flight is “thankful” for the doctor who helped save her.
Brittany Mateiro, 28, toldTodaythat she “wouldn’t be here” without Dr. Kashif Chaudhry, who performed CPR on her after she experienced amedical emergencywhileflyingfrom New Jersey to Arizona for a bachelorette party earlier this month.
Mateiro reunited with Chaudhry, a cardiac electrophysiologist at UPMC in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the first time after the incident on Wednesday’s episode ofToday.
Chaudhry toldTodaythat he helped Mateiro after hearing an emergency announcement on the plane about “two hours into the flight.”
“About 15 seconds later, there was an announcement,” he shared. After running over, he recalled finding “Brittany slumped over unresponsive” with “no pulse at all.”
Chaudhry said it took about 90 seconds to revive Mateiro, who had previous no health problems and exercised three days a week.
today
Fortunately, since then Mateiro said she hasn’t experienced any major symptoms.
“I’m feeling good,” she shared. “I had a little chest soreness because CPR is pretty tolling on your body. But, I feel great.”
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Now, the pair are stressing the importance of learning CPR.
“The important lesson here is anyone on that plane should done the same, could have done the same. It’s just CPR,” Chaudhry said.
“It’s very understandable to be scared when someone is unresponsive,” he added. “You’re thinking maybe I’d hurt them but the American Heart Association states that the benefit of starting chest compressions who is having a cardiac arrest far outweighs the risk to someone who doesn’t need it.”
source: people.com
