Queensland mum’s miraculous survival after cardiac arrest in McDonald’s

Queensland mum’s miraculous survival after cardiac arrest in McDonald’s
A mum who almost died after collapsing at a Queensland McDonald’s has revealed what woke her from her coma.

Just a few weeks ago, Rebekah Schull’s family was delivered the shattering news she was unlikely to recover from a major cardiac arrest that left her facedown on the floor at McDonald’s.

The mum-of-two from Gympie, Queensland, had driven down the coast for some shopping and planned to pick up some Macca’s in Maroochydore before heading home, but as she approached the front door, she collapsed.

“I actually landed flat on my face, I didn’t put my hands out or anything. I just smacked down on the ground, my chin took the full force,” Mrs Schull told news.com.au.

An onlooker immediately yelled out, “woman down”, grabbing the attention of a man named Brendan – an ICU worker who uncharacteristically happened to be having a meal in his car nearby.

He rushed over and begun CPR – something he had never done outside of work – and continued with the help of two other men for about 15 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

At one point, they suspected Mrs Schull was having a seizure because her body was shaking.

“When you go into cardiac arrest and your heart stops, apparently your body kind shakes around a bit because your heart and lungs are looking for oxygen,” Mrs Schull said.

A McDonald’s employee Charlie, who was coincidentally a third year paramedic trainee, also stepped in to help, while a girl behind the counter stayed on the phone with triple-0.

While paramedics battled to keep her heart beating, they discovered Mrs Schull had a huge clot in her lungs and needed a “massive” amount of blood thinners to clear it.

She lost an enormous amount of blood as a result, and being a Jehovah’s Witness, could not accept donated blood which meant her haemoglobin level plunged to 51, far below the normal range of 121-151 grams per litre.

Mrs Schull remained in an induced coma at Sunshine Coast University Hospital for two weeks following the ordeal, with loved ones given little hope of her surviving and told to say their goodbyes.

“They [hospital staff] told my family three or four times and said, ‘look, we don’t think she’s going to make it’,” Mrs Schull recalled.

As her 14 and 15-year-old daughters came to farewell their mum, something that could only be described as miraculous unfolded.

“I actually woke up when my daughters came in to say goodbye. I was so traumatised by it, it woke me out of my coma,” she said.

“I just cried. It was pretty bad because I knew they were there to say goodbye.”

Mrs Schull’s medical team were not only startled she had woken but were in disbelief at her cognitive condition, having been preparing her family to care for her in a vegetative state should she survive.

“They told my husband and kids to expect me to be a vegetable. They were planning who was going to look after me,” she said.

Mrs Schull was discharged from hospital about two weeks ago and has since been learning how to walk again, having lost almost all of her muscle while in a coma.

She also deals with immense chest pain from receiving an extended period of chest compressions – something medical staff said without a doubt saved her life.

“I’m so fortunate it happened at McDonald’s. I truly believe I would have died if it happened anywhere else,” Mrs Schull said, adding that a nurse told her when she woke that “nobody survives these things out of hospital”.

“My doctor couldn’t believe I lived either,” she said.

Mrs Schull expressed her extreme gratitude to the three people who rushed to assist her after she collapsed – Brendan, Charlie, and another man she had yet to track down.

She also hoped her experience would serve as a reminder for the public to not hesitate on beginning CPR if they encountered someone who had stopped breathing.

Mrs Schull is expected to make a full recovery.

A McDonald’s spokesperson told news.com.au the company was proud its employees provided such meaningful help in the emergency.

“We are incredibly proud of our employees and the assistance they provided to the customer,” they said.

“Our people acted quickly, displayed leadership and remained calm despite the stressful circumstances. We are pleased to hear of the customer’s recovery and wish them all the very best in the future.”