SANTAQUIN, Utah — On May 3, Justine Carter, a 33-year-old mother of two young children, got on her treadmill to get some exercise. After just 12 minutes, she felt sick.

Justine sent her sister a video message describing her symptoms and saying, “I’m not dead yet, but I feel dead.”

This was followed by severe vomiting, shortness of breath and pain radiating to the chest.

Justine later learned that she had suffered a rare heart attack caused by spontaneous coronary dissection (SCAD). This meant that the inner layer of Justine’s artery had unexpectedly ruptured. As a result, the wall of her artery swelled, obstructing proper blood flow.

At that moment, however, Justine had no idea what was happening.

She called her husband, Kevin Carter. He raced home but stayed on the phone with Justine and their four-year-old son, Tucker.

Kevin’s mother, Teresa Carter, a longtime nurse at MountainStar Healthcare’s Mountain View Hospital in Payson, also drove there to meet her.

“She stopped talking and I asked Tucker, ‘What is Mommy doing?’ ‘She, she’s sleeping, Daddy,'” Kevin said.

Shortly after they arrived, Teresa began CPR.

Kevin called 911 and Santaquin Fire and Rescue were on the scene within four minutes.

“It was scary, but then I just went into ‘nurse mode’, if you will, and I just started doing what you do, you know, CPR,” Teresa said.

The emergency services took over the resuscitation and tried to revive Justine.

“They just kept working on her here at home and then they started saying, ‘Well, soon we’re going to have to call it a day,'” Kevin said.

At that moment, Kevin realized that he might lose his wife and the mother of his children.

Justine’s body lay lifeless in her house for 25 minutes.

Her heart wasn’t beating and she wasn’t breathing on her own.

Justine suffered from ventricular fibrillation, the most common cause of sudden cardiac death.

Only when Santaquin Fire & EMS gave Justine the fifth electric shock with an AED was she able to come back to life.

“I’m here because of her. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” Justine said.

Emergency responders took Justine, who was still unresponsive, to Mountain View Hospital, where doctors determined she had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest (SCAD).

She spent several days in an artificial coma in the intensive care unit, connected to a ventilator so that her body could rest and recover.

“They told me I had had a heart attack,” Justine said. “I remember my husband being there telling me what had happened and asking if he was OK.”

For three days, says Kevin, they had to wait. The family prayed that Justine would survive and that her neurological functions would return.

“I knew there was a risk of brain damage,” Teresa said. “Luckily, she knew all of us when she woke up! It felt like a miracle. It Was a miracle.”

Dr. Mark Bair, the medical director of Mountain View Hospital’s emergency department and the emergency room physician who treated Justine, says he was afraid she might suffer permanent brain damage due to the lack of oxygen resulting from the incident.

“In her case, she was very lucky,” Dr. Bair said. “But thanks to the wonderful things that were done on the scene, first – her mother-in-law immediately started CPR – followed by the resuscitation efforts of our emergency responders who restored her heartbeat, and then the ongoing efforts at the hospital to preserve her brain function … she is completely normal today.”

On Thursday, about three and a half months after the heart attack, Justine and her family were reunited with the rescue team and Dr. Bair in Santaquin. There were many hugs and tears.

“All I can say is ‘thank you,’” Justine told the first responders.

“It’s really unbelievable. These are the kinds of calls that people will never forget,” said Santaquin Fire and Rescue Chief Ryan Lind. “To meet them tonight… this is something they will remember forever.”

Chief Lind says people often don’t know what paramedics do until they experience a life-changing event like this.

“It’s very important for the crew and the city to see the hard work and dedication of the firefighters and EMS,” said Chief Lind. “We often don’t see how our patients are doing. We hear that they may have been discharged, but to see this young woman alive today with her family and have the mother here for her children… it’s incredible.”

Justine is focused on restoring her heart strength and enjoying life to the fullest.

“My life has definitely changed. I feel like I’m trying to be more intentional with my time,” Justine said. “Everything is small now. We don’t have to rush. Take your time, love your family, love the people around you.”