On the 30th of May 2020, I dropped dead in the street...

It took 19 minutes before my heart started pumping spontaneously again.

I was declared clinically dead for 4-5 minutes but survived thanks to (in this order):

1. The very courageous intervention of my wife who called the emergency services, started chest compressions and artificial ventilation and alarmed the emergency number and everybody in the neighborhood.
2. Two bystanders that came to help my wife, taking over CPR.
3. The arrival of the police on-site within minutes and their professional first response (including breaking two of my ribs in the process).
4. The arrival of the ambulance within 8 minutes after the call, giving me 3 shocks with the defibrillator.
5. The extraordinary professional care at Cardiocentro Lugano, providing me afterwards with a built-in defibrillator and ongoing weekly monitoring of my heart data.
6. The follow-up care of my family doctor and a trauma expert, keeping me physically and psychologically in shape.

I’m so thankful for still being here!

I just turned 50 when the incident happened and I just had done an extensive medical check-up a few months prior to my incident.

The results were excellent.

To this day, nobody has an explanation why it happened… The best guess is "stress".

The recovery process is slow and strenuous but I'm staying positive and enjoy every extra day I am given.