Portrait of an Interrupted Life

March 21, 2004

A vivacious and witty 4 year Univ. of Ill. computer engineering student, Dani, at 105 lbs., did not fit the victim profile for cardiac arrest. This story begins when the heartbeat ends ...

Estimate: 3-4 minutes on the floor in a northern California Walmart (anoxic - no oxygen to the brain)

Estimate: 3-4 minutes after cardiac arrest, Walmart employee begins CPR (hypoxic - oxygen deficiency to the brain, extent unknown)

Estimate: 22 minutes and 8 tries later, paramedics succeed in restarting the heart

Unable to Estimate: Dani's will to live