BUFFALO, N.Y. — To learn more about cardiac arrest, and what Jessie Pegula shared about her mom's condition, we spoke with a cardiologist on Tuesday.
2 On Your Side talked with the Director of the Structural Heart Program at Kaleida Health Tuesday afternoon, and he called Kim Pegula's recovery pretty remarkable.
"It looks like she has essentially made a, what appears to be a fairly miraculous recovery, for somebody who had the at-home, for lack of a better word, though it's at home, it's an unwitnessed cardiac arrest because nobody really knew exactly what time she went into arrest because she was sleeping at the time," said Dr. Vijay Iyer, Director of the Structural Heart Program at Kaleida Health.
Cardiologist Dr. Vijay Iyer says you don't see a lot of people who have unwitnessed cardiac arrests recover as Kim Pegula has.
"The extent of damage really depends upon how long the brain was without a blood supply, and for some people, it may be as little as some minor loss of memory, especially recent memory, and for some people, it is more profound. It all depends upon they were without oxygen to their brain," Dr. Vijay Iyer.
Dr. Iyer says it was critical that Kelly Pegula started CPR as soon as possible at home.
"The fact that they were able to resuscitate and get the care that they need is critical. Neurological recovery and functional recovery require a coordinated team of efforts. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists to help people overcome a lot of the deficits that come from what is called anoxic encephalopathy, or the lack of oxygen to the brain for whatever period of time it may be," Dr. Vijay Iyer.
Dr. Iyer also says everybody should be able to do basic CPR until first responders get there.
"Everybody needs to be trained on the use of an AED, these are fundamentals and I believe that these are skills that should be taught to all young adults before they graduate from high school with reinforcements of those skills over a lifetime so that everybody can stay current. I think this is so critical for the community," said Dr. Vijay Iyer.