When paramedics discovered Samantha Hind stuck under the wheel of a car, they gave her a less than 1 per cent chance of survival.
The now-51-year-old was blue with catastrophic injuries to her chest and stomach after her husband accidentally ran over her with his car while she was sunbaking on the front lawn of her home in Frankston South.
Her panicked partner, Jeff Hind, shouted to their son to call Triple Zero (000) as he watched his “gorgeous wife” tell him that she was dying.
Paramedics arrived within minutes, temporarily resuscitating her pulse after inflating her chest with a large needle before Ms Hind went into cardiac arrest.
Samantha and Jeff Hind say their bond has strengthened after the life-threatening accident. (ABC News: Simon Tucci)
Specialist MICA paramedics arrived in time to perform a finger thoracostomy — cutting into her chest cavity and inserting their fingers to allow air out of her lungs to restart her heartbeat.
Ms Hind was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital, where she remained in a coma for 12 days.Â
Her loved ones were in limbo, and told they may need to choose between severe brain damage and death.
“They said it’s totally up to you to make that call. But we didn’t have to make that call, thanks to [the paramedics],” Mr Hind said.
Upon awakening, Ms Hind’s first words to her husband were an apology.
“The first thing she said to me was, ‘I’m so sorry,'” Mr Hind said.
“She was worried she wasn’t there for us. What myself and the boys had gone through.”
Samantha and her family thanked paramedics on Monday, two years after they saved her life on that same lawn. (ABC News: Simon Tucci)
To the shock of healthcare staff, after 31 days, Ms Hind was discharged from hospital and already relearning how to walk.
After weekly physiotherapy appointments, her friends were shocked to see her almost completely recovered.
“It’s been a long journey but I’m so thankful to be here. To be able to be with family, friends, it means the world,” she said.
“Mentally, I’ve had a bit of a struggle. I think part of the problem is people see me and think ‘oh you look so well’ but you can’t see the mental struggles.”
Samantha reunites with paramedics
Yesterday, Ms Hind and her family reunited with the paramedics and Triple Zero call-taker who helped to save her life.
In emotional scenes, the group celebrated the “miracle” that was Ms Hind’s survival — a result of a timely call, effective triaging and the availability of specialist personnel.
MICA paramedic Andrew Burns described the accident as one of the best jobs he had done in his career and Ms Hind as one of the most genuine and lovely people he had ever met.
MICA paramedic Andrew Burns performed a life-saving finger thoracostomy to restart Samantha’s heart. (ABC News: Simon Tucci)
“To see her standing here today with her family, with no deficits, walking around with all of her life ahead of her is one of the great privileges of being a paramedic, to deliver that to a family,” he said.
To Ms Hind, it is a second chance at life that she promises to never take for granted.
“Not stressing about the little things, I think even just appreciating family, friends, laughter, grandchildren, not sweating the little things,” she said.
“Even with what I went through I still realise there’s people out there who’ve been through worse and are going through worse.
“I’m really thankful to be here.”