Pregnant woman was ‘dead’ for 20 seconds during a simple procedure — one glance at the clock after waking up stunned her
The nine-month journey of pregnancy requires careful monitoring, with regular check-ups and attention to every change to avoid complications. In some cases, this vigilance can prove crucial and even life-saving, as it did for a woman named Hinda Abrahams. According to a Mirror report from Tuesday, May 5, 2026, the 28-year-old pregnant woman had gone for a routine procedure, but what happened next led to her being admitted to the intensive care unit, where her heart stopped twice, and she was clinically dead for 20 seconds. Later, when she woke up and looked at the clock, she was stunned.
Abrahams had only expected doctors to perform a laparoscopic procedure after a suspected ectopic pregnancy. When the woman woke up, she found herself in the ICU, and an allergic reaction to general anesthesia had caused her heart to stop twice during the procedure. She was "dead" for 20 seconds. She had suspected the ICU stay was just due to low blood pressure. “I saw the clock above the nurse's head showing 4 p.m., meaning it had been five hours since they started the operation, and I was only just waking up. I knew it wasn’t good,” Abrahams said.
Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure used to examine the stomach or pelvic area to diagnose conditions or perform surgery, according to the Cleveland Clinic. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg attaches itself outside the uterus, most often in a fallopian tube. Abrahams' pregnancy had already taken a painful turn back in January when she experienced abdominal pain and spotting. All this time, she had been taking birth control pills without missing a dose and had previously had normal menstrual periods. Eventually, her husband, Theodore, convinced her to get checked, and the mother of two tested positive for pregnancy.
“By the time I saw the positive pregnancy, I immediately knew it must be ectopic. There was no moment of ‘wow, I’m pregnant' because I’d been in so much pain for four days,” she said. Doctors confirmed she was experiencing a miscarriage and arranged surgery to examine the situation and remove the suspected ectopic pregnancy. While the procedure was expected to last only around 45 minutes, within just 20 minutes, Theodore was called in the waiting room and was informed that his wife’s heart had stopped twice. “I didn’t know that CPR has at best a 40% survival rate when done in the best medical setting. On the street, CPR is only 10% successful,” said Abrahams, who had once believed it worked as it does in movies.
Later, when her husband arrived at the ICU, she was still unconscious, and the staff was trying to stabilize her. She was hooked up to several IV lines, had a catheter inserted, and a central line stitched into her neck to deliver emergency medication. She spent three days in intensive care, where she developed pneumonia from intubation and showed signs of heart failure after the cardiac arrest. Doctors found no prior heart condition, and though she is now recovering at home, she still struggles to process what happened. “The fact that I not only survived it, but don't have any serious life-altering injury from it, is a true miracle and I thank God for it,” she remarked.
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