A woman who reportedly "died for 17 minutes" while at the gym had an experience that she'll never forget.
Victoria Thomas, a 35‑year‑old accountant, collapsed during a high‑intensity boot camp session after lifting weights.
She described feeling off, queasy, suddenly drained of energy, and a touch dizzy.
“I was also feeling slightly dizzy. I’d only just said it when I suddenly collapsed on the floor,” she told the Mirror.
Paramedics arrived quickly and began CPR. As each second passed with no response, fears grew.
She recounted what happened next: “When it happened, it went black and there was nothing, then I became aware of looking down on my body.
"I was floating near the roof and was looking down at myself on the gym floor. My first thought was that my legs looked really fat. And when I looked at a photo of myself taken just minutes before I collapsed, I could see that my legs were actually swollen.
"I didn’t see a light, or feel peaceful, I was just watching myself, and I could see some yellow machines around me.”
After 17 long minutes, her heart finally restarted.
At the time, Victoria was young, fit, and had no known heart issues.
“They never gave up on me. The minutes ticked by, but they refused to stop trying. I was so young, fit and healthy, and it had come completely out of the blue,” she said.
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Victoria spent three days in a coma at Bristol Royal Infirmary.
A pacemaker was fitted to help restart her heart if needed. Though she’d had no family history of heart disease, her heart stopped multiple times in the following months - each time, the pacemaker jolted it back to life.
Remarkably, three weeks after the collapse, she returned to netball - this time wearing the defibrillator device. “It was a shock whenever it went off, but it allowed me to carry on living my normal life, which I was so grateful for.”
In February 2021, she became pregnant, placing extra strain on her heart.
She experienced frequent arrests until, at 24 weeks, doctors diagnosed her with Danon disease - a rare genetic disorder affecting fewer than one million people, per the Mirror.
It’s caused by a faulty LAMP 2 gene, which should generate an enzyme to keep the heart healthy. Life expectancy is just 19 years for men and around 24 for women.
“I was 24 weeks pregnant with Tommy and I was so shocked, I couldn’t take it in,” Victoria said upon seeing her diagnosis.
Doctors initially wanted to deliver her baby immediately - but she insisted on waiting.
Had he come at 24 weeks, survival chances would have been bleak. Yet by 30 weeks, she was struggling to breathe from fluid buildup and had to undergo an emergency caesarean.
Thankfully, baby Tommy came through fine. But the strain of pregnancy severely damaged Victoria’s heart.
When Tommy was six months old, she struggled to climb stairs without facing extreme breathlessness.
In April 2022, tests revealed her heart’s capacity had dropped to just 11% - a sign of failing heart function.
She’d been told she had only a few months left. “I asked the doctors how long I had left and they told me I had just another couple of months. It was devastating. All I could think of was Tommy. I vowed I wouldn’t leave him.”
Placed on the urgent transplant register, Victoria remained in hospital, seeing Tommy only during brief visits.
“I would cuddle him and cherish every moment I had with him,” she said.
Two donor hearts were found - but both proved unsuitable after further examination.
Each time her hopes were raised, they were dashed again: “Each time I’d get my hopes up thinking this was it, that I was going to be saved. And then I was told that the operation couldn’t go ahead. I didn’t know if they were ever going to find a heart in time. I’d given up all hope.”
Then in April 2023, the news Victoria had been waiting for arrived: a compatible donor heart.
The transplant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham was successful, and by May, she was home. “I’d been in hospital since Tommy’s first birthday in October and now I was finally home with him. I couldn’t believe it.”
Despite some post‑operative rejection episodes, she’s now back to full strength.
She has returned to netball, playing four times a week, and is set to compete in volleyball and basketball at the upcoming World Transplant Games in Germany.
Tommy is now three, and tests confirm Victoria no longer carries Danon disease - and her relatives are all in the clear.