A British woman whose heart stopped beating for six-and-a-half hours has been brought back to life in a case which doctors have described as "exceptional".
Audrey Mash became ill with severe hypothermia while hiking in the Spanish Pyrenees with her husband on November 3.
Doctors said it is the longest-ever cardiac arrest in Spain.
She has made a remarkable recovery following her ordeal and plans to be back hiking in the spring.
The 34-year-old, who lives in Barcelona, began having trouble speaking and moving as hypothermia took hold during severe weather in the Pyrenees.
She then fell unconscious.
Her condition worsened while they waited for an ambulance and her husband, Rohan Schoeman, feared she was dead.
He told a Spanish TV station, TV3, on Thursday: "I was trying to feel a pulse. I couldn't feel a breath, I couldn't feel a heartbeat."
When the rescue team arrived two hours later, Audrey's body temperature had fallen to 18C.
She had "no vital signs" when she arrived at Vall d'Hebron Hospital in Barcelona.
However, the low mountain temperatures worked in her favour, her doctor Eduard Argudo has explained. "She looked as though she was dead", he said.
"But we know that, in the context of hypothermia, Audrey had a chance of surviving."
By being in hypothermia, her body and brain was protected from deteriorating when she was unconscious.
But if she had been in cardiac arrest for this long during a normal body temperature "she would be dead," Mr Argudo added.
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They were concerned about neurological damage as there have been "practically no cases of people who have had their heart stop for so long and have been revived".
Doctors used specialist equipment to remove blood, infuse it with oxygen and reintroduce it to her body.
When her body temperature had risen to 30C, a defibrillator was used to restart her heart.
Audrey, who was released from hospital after 12 days, has no memory of what happened.
She said: "It's like a miracle - except it's all because of the doctors".
She said she didn't want it "to take away that hobby from me", adding she hopes to return to hiking in the spring.
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