Doctors claim that a woman who experienced complications following a routine cesarean section went without a pulse for 45 minutes — and miraculously survived.
Ruby Graupera-Cassimiro, 40, appeared fine after her healthy baby girl was born on September 23, but then she quickly went from jubilantly speaking with family members to experiencing shortness of breath — and then, two hours later, her heart stopped.
Medical professionals spent three hours trying to resuscitate Graupera-Cassimiro, who suffered from amniotic fluid embolism, a rare condition in which amniotic fluid or fetal material makes its way into the mother's bloodstream, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Ruby Graupera-Cassimiro of Deerfield Beach, Fla., holds her newborn daughter, Taily, on November 4, 2014, as she describes her near-death experience after undergoing a scheduled C-section in Septermber 2014. (Mark Randall/Sun Sentinel/MCT via Getty Images)
The situation was apparently so dire that doctors called her family members in and told them that they had done all they could and that it was time to say their goodbyes, the Associated Press reported.
The family left the hospital room and began to pray for Graupera-Cassimiro. And just as doctors were about to declare the time of death, something miraculous happened: her monitor suddenly began to detect a heartbeat.
"She essentially spontaneously resuscitated when we were about to call the time of death," said Thomas Chakurda, a spokesperson for Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Florida.
Not only did Graupera-Cassimiro survive — a miracle in its own right — but she also emerged from the incident without any serious brain damage, with Chakurda telling the Associated Press that she's now the "picture of health."
Ruby Graupera-Cassimiro of Deerfield Beach, Fla., holds her newborn daughter, Taily, on November 4, 2014, as she meets some of the nurses who took care of her while undergoing a scheduled C-section in Septermber 2014. (Mark Randall/Sun Sentinel/MCT via Getty Images)
He called the entire ordeal a case of "divine providence" — one that left doctors mesmerized, as the hospital spokesman told ABC News that he's never seen a group of people more impacted by something they saw.
"They all were very struck," Chakurda said.
Graupera-Cassimiro returned to the hospital recently to thank staff members for saving her life.
"I don't know why I was given this opportunity, but I'm very grateful for it," she said. "God had the right people in the right place."
(H/T: Gawker)
