A man who was put into a medically induced coma after suffering a heart attack has woken just in time to see his wife give birth.
Ashley Goette, from Minnesota, US, woke up on the night of 16 October to the sound of her husband, Andrew, gasping for air.
Thirty nine weeks pregnant at the time, Ashley called 911 and a dispatcher instructed her to perform CPR until the paramedics arrived. After having a suspected cardiac arrest, Andrew was subsequently taken to hospital, where he was placed in a coma to minimise possible brain damage.
At this point, doctors informed Ashley that it was unclear if her husband would survive or if he would suffer further complications.
“In the first hours of treatment at the ER and ICU, the prognosis was dire,” the family wrote on a GoFundMe page they created to help raise funds for medical costs.
“CT and MRI scans, along with clinical signs, pointed to catastrophic brain injury. The team of specialists treating Andrew prepared the family for the worst…it was likely he would not wake up from this.”
As Ashley sat by the father-to-be’s bedside, she insisted that she would wait until he woke up to have the baby.
Then just days later, as nurses began to remove the sedatives, Andrew opened his eyes and showed no apparent neurological problems.
Over the next 36 hours, Andrew continued to recover before his wife went into labour.
The hospital staff made arrangements to move Andrew into the labour room so that he could be with her.
Doctors informed the couple that a C-section would be required and, although Andrew couldn’t be wheeled into the same room, he still managed to watch the entire birth on FaceTime.
At 5:16am on 19 October, the couple welcomed their new son, Lennon Andrew Goette, into the world.
Andrew continues to make a good recovery and has since undergone a procedure to resolve his heart arrhythmia.
