Surviving with a Body Temperature of 13°C and No Pulse!: The Woman Who Changed Medicine!

In May 1999, Swedish doctor Anna Bågenholm faced a life-or-death ordeal that would forever redefine medical understanding. While skiing in the Norwegian Arctic, she fell through thin ice and became trapped underwater for over 80 minutes. Her body temperature plummeted to a staggering 13.7°C, and she had no pulse or breathing for more than an hour. By all conventional standards, she was clinically dead.

Anna’s survival began with the unwavering efforts of her friends, who held her in place and called for help, and continued with rescuers who chipped through the ice to pull her out. Even then, her revival depended on advanced medical intervention: continuous CPR during transport and connection to a heart-lung machine at the hospital gradually restored her heartbeat and warmed her body. Her recovery, though long and arduous, was nothing short of miraculous.

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