A dad-of-two who died not once but twice has told how he could see his own unconscious body as medics fought to save him.
Slav Wojcik, aged 42, hadn't long finished his work as a personal trainer when he began shaking and feeling dizzy in May 2021.
As he went to bed, his condition worsened and when he began throwing up, his wife called for an ambulance, the MEN reports.
After Slav was rushed to the hospital, it was discovered that he had severe sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to an infection.
He told the Manchester Evening News: “I couldn’t stop shaking, it was the shock. My bladder, kidney and stomach stopped working.
"The next thing I was in an isolation room in critical condition plugged into loads of machines – then the fight for my life started.”
Slav’s blood pressure dropped to a dangerous level, his lungs began to fail and his heart stopped beating - twice.
Slav continued: “My blood pressure went so low they had to rescue me and bring me back to life.
“The first 48 hours are blurry; I had all these flashbacks.
"My heart stopped and started beating again and it happened twice over a few hours. It felt like being in a movie.
"At one point, I had an experience where I was outside my body and I could see myself on the bed talking to myself.
"It was like I was coming in and out of different dimensions.
“I would try and listen to what (the doctors) would tell me as much as I could, I kept calm.
"I made peace with the situation and I was ready. If I died, I achieve so much and lived the life I wanted to.”
After three days in intensive care, Slav’s swollen body began to return to normal, although he was still unable to move.
The infection led to heart failure which caused an irregular heartbeat.
It took six weeks for Slav’s heart rate to return to normal – something he describes as the “greatest day” of his life.
“Even lying down, it was constantly fast,” he said, “It was an irregular rhythm; it was horrible.
"Before that I was very active and very busy, as a personal trainer I used to train 30 hours a week.
“Not being able to move after this busy life would affect me and depress me.
"I can’t explain it – even when I’m talking about it now, I get goose bumps.
“I was so close to giving up. I had counsellors and people talking to me about PTSD but nothing worked.
"One day I thought, ‘Ok, that’s enough of the moaning and being sad and depressed. I need to start doing something about it.
“It started with walks, I would go for a 10-minute walk and come back panicked because I didn’t know what would happen the next day or if my heart would hurt. I took it a day at a time.”
Miraculously, Slav, from Stafford, made a recovery and even completed the Manchester Marathon in April.
He said: “Manchester Marathon was actually the first marathon event that I had ever done and therefore I wanted to come back to do it again out of sentimentality.
“It’s possible as long as we want things. We can achieve a lot, not just fitness. It’s the same with everyday life.
"If you want something, you find a way.”
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