Strange News Stories

Friday, September 11th, 2009

NY Chauffeur Revived 45 Minutes After Heart Stopped Beating

The definition of death blurred a little more recently when a man from Brooklyn, NY was revived a full forty five minutes after his heart stopped beating.

Joseph Tiralosi went to the emergency room at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center on August 17th 2009, because he was feeling unwell but apparently did not know why. Within just a few minutes of his arrival however, his heart stop beating.

Emergency room physician Dr. Flavio Gaudio and his staff set to work immediately. The team shocked their patient eight times with a defibrillator machine before deciding to inject a solution into his body which broke up blood clots that had lead to the cardiac arrest.  Amazingly the fifty six year old chauffeur left the hospital on September 2nd 2009, looking and feeling great. Doctors were delighted when it was confirmed that he had suffered no brain damage of any kind.

Tiralosi’s amazing experience is further evidence to support the growing theory amongst scientists and medical professionals alike that death itself is more about a certain moment than an actual process.

In 2008 a researcher from the University of Southampton in England, Sam Parnia, explained his theory about the window of opportunity medical staff may have for resuscitating those who have suffered an apparently fatal cardiac arrest. “During a cardiac arrest, all three criteria of death are present,” he explained “The heart stops beating, the lungs stop working and the brain ceases functioning. In many minds, that defines clinical death. But…

“There then follows a period of time, which may last from a few seconds to an hour or more, in which emergency medical efforts may succeed in restarting the heart and reversing the dying process.”

There is little doubt though that it was the quick actions and persistence of the emergency room staff at Cornell Medical Center that provided Joseph Tiralosi with his incredible second chance. Of course he is aware of just how lucky he is. I’m just so grateful — this hospital gave me my life back,” he told reporters before leaving the hospital to return home to complete his recovery.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 12:22 am and is filed under Heart Stopped. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “NY Chauffeur Revived 45 Minutes After Heart Stopped Beating”

jimmy Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 10:23 am

GREAT THAT HES ALIVE BUT HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR HIM NOT TO HAVE BRAIN DAMAGE AFTER 45 MINUTES WITHOUT BLOODFLOW?

rena shirk Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:22 am

kudoes to the emergency team that persisted in trying to save mr.tiralosi life . dr.gaudio should be commended because he ran that code team and it was his decisions that saved that mans life and gods inspiration sent to him that he acted on.

rena shirk Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 11:29 am

god bless dr.flavio gaudio and ur emergency team that listened to god inspired directions insaving that mans life. ur qwick actions and persistance paid off.hopefully how u ran ur code will carry over into the medical comunity.

Michael Dwyer Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 1:56 pm

I stopped breathing three(3)times during an operation in April in 2003. I owe my Surgeons Everything.When i went to see my doctor. She called me The Miracle Man.I was in a coma for 14 days. I thank God every day i wake up.

jean Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 3:21 pm

Hmm, I’m thinking of all the millions of people who didn’t get resuscitated properly and then kicked-the-bucket …… just goes to show me that i can’t leave this body until IT’S TIME

RICO Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 8:40 pm

I’M A CARDIOLOGIST AND I CAN PERSONALLY SAY IT’S ALWAYS GOOD TO HEAR STORIES LIKE THIS! DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE RESILIENCY OF THE HUMAN BODY (AND SPIRIT). AS FOR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES I HAVE EXPERIENCED DOZENS OF STORIES INVOLVING PATIENTS FOUND “DEAD” AND WHO’VE REMAINED PULSELESS FOR PROLONGED PERIODS OF TIME AND EVENTUALLY WALKED OUT OF THE HOSPITAL (ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION WITH A NEW HEART!). I RECALL AS A RESIDENT AT BELLEVUE (IN NYC) ONE HOMELESS MAN WHO HAD BEEN FOUND IN THE SNOW AND DIDN’T HAVE A PULSE FOR HOURS- EVENTUALLY HE WOKE UP, PULLED HIS TUBES OUT AND WANTED FOOD, WHISKEY AND A FEW OTHER “ACCOMMODATIONS” (NOT OBVIOUSLY A MORNING PERSON). ANOTHER WOMAN OUT IN LOS ANGELES WAS PULSELESS FOR OVER AN HOUR AND IN A COMA FOR MONTHS BEFORE SHE WOKE UP, WEANED OF THE MACHINES AND REQUESTED A CIGARETTE AND A GIN AND TONIC. I LOVE TO HEAR AND TELL THESE STORIES AS IT TEACHES US THERE IS PROBABLY MORE TO IT ALL THAN WE THINK—THAT WE SHOULD STAY HUMBLE–NEVER STOP UNTIL IT’S TIME TO STOP—AND FIND THE JOY, MIRACLES, AND LAUGHS ALONG THE WAY!

Joseph Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 8:43 pm

Perhaps unrelated to this case, but researchers have proven that death from cardiac are most often (ironically)the result of resuccitation! How? Well humans have a cellular feature that when a cell “reboots” and there’s too much of a certain chemical in the cell (a chemical that surges during cardiac arrest), the cell commits suicide to preserves the other cells–but since all the others are juiced-up with that same chemical=massive cellular death=TOTAL DEATH! THE GOOD THING is that by COOLING THE BODY TO NEAR FREEZING before reviving it, the reaction can be averted and thus eliminate the cell death and damage, etc. Consequently, hospitals and paramedics on the cutting edge now commonly arrive on scene with a chilling-set-up for cardiac victims, and have the equipment in the hospitals. Ultimately, the plan is to make it common practice worldwide.

Jenny Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 9:11 pm

Jimmy, He did have blood flow, they gave CPR for those 45 min. So his brain was getting oxygen. It is just that nothing was working on its own and normally they don’t try for 45 minutes.

One code I was in on they worked on the guy for 30 min and called it. As everyone was leaving a nurse noticed that he had a pulse. So they went back to reviving him and brought him back. Luckily the nurse checked his pulse.

Teri Says:
September 12th, 2009 at 1:08 am

I teach cpr for a living. Everyone should know how to do good cpr. Sudden cardiac arrest can occur to anyone at anytime for a variety of reasons. If good cpr is being done and keeps blood flowing to the brain, advanced care can bring a person back. Push hard and push fast at at the rate of 100 compressions per minute (same beat as “Staying Alive”). 30 chest compressions and 2 breaths until paramedics take over and for godsakes put the person on a hard, flat surface, not a bed!

Nursedeby Says:
September 12th, 2009 at 1:13 am

What was the drug they used “to inject a solution into his body which broke up blood clots that had lead to the cardiac arrest”. Was it TNK or Heparin??? My guess is TNK…..great drug, was it?

Scoopy Says:
December 6th, 2009 at 11:53 am

I think jospeh has caps lock fever. Unfortunately this disease is un-curable. Sorry joseph.

Scoopy Says:
December 6th, 2009 at 11:54 am

And by joseph I mean Rico.

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