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Woman Dies 36 Times: Rare Condition Leaves Victim Clinically Dead Dozens Of Times

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 01:26 PST, Mar 6, 2015

A rare heart condition has left a 21-year-old woman from England clinically dead 36 times in a single year, as her heart stops beating and at times takes almost a half hour to refill with blood.

Sarah Brautigam, who lives in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome four years ago. As the Daily Mail reports, the condition induces rapid palpitations in her heart, which can cause the organ to stop beating, lowering her blood pressure into a range that doctors describe as clinical death.

In 2012, medics asserted that she was clinically dead a staggering 36 times. Paramedics are forced to inflict pain upon her to shock her body into reviving, as CPR is not an option until her heart refills with blood. Morbidly, she has revealed that her hearing is the last sensation to go as she slips away.

“There are signs before it happens – I’ll feel dizzy or sick and really tired and then I feel as though I’m falling asleep,” the young woman related. “I can hear everything around me and feel as though I’m trying to shout but nothing is coming out. They say when you die your hearing is the last thing to go and that’s been my experience. After an attack I’ll wake up and my chest will be killing and I’m really tired.”

A former canoeing fanatic who made the GB squad, Brautigam’s rare condition brought her dreams to a quick end, as the Doncaster Free Press reports. Her terrifying brushes with death have resulted in other losses for her, however, leaving the young woman feeling isolated and vulnerable.

“I had 10 years of being out every weekend canoeing and being so active and it all came crashing down. I piled on the weight because I couldn’t exercise and was really upset. I can’t even work at the minute because I would need a job that could be very flexible. Then I was told I couldn’t drive, it was like everything was being taken away from me.”

Last fall, a scientific study concluded that awareness can indeed persist in the moments directly following death. As the Inquisitr previously reported, nearly four out of every 10 individuals examined in the study revealed that they retained some awareness of events transpiring around them, even after clinical death.

Brautigam refuses to let her condition define her, however, taking up burlesque chair dancing as a hobby and organizing a charity event to benefit others with her affliction. Though the rare condition has left the young woman clinically dead over 36 times, she says she is determined not to let it stop her from living her life.

[Image via the Doncaster Free Press]

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