Phill Zdybel revived after cardiac arrest

Corio’s Phill Zdybel dropped dead during a basketball game. Now he is fighting fit and sharing his “miracle” survival.

Phill Zdybel suffered sudden cardiac arrest during a basketball game and survived to tell the tale. Picture: Brad Fleet

One moment Phill Zdybel was weaving around the basketball court, and the next he lay dead on the ground.

The Corio man, a taekwondo instructor and stalwart of the martial arts scene, described dying as an out of body experience.

Mr Zdybel, 57, said he had no warning signs in the lead-up to the sudden cardiac arrest, caused by a coronary artery aneurysm, last November.

When Mr Zdybel woke up in hospital a few days later, he said he was told he had been dead for 28 minutes.

Mr Zdybel’s son, Joshua, was at the basketball game and saw his father collapse at the courts in Belmont.

Joshua called triple-0 while an off duty nurse rushed over and began CPR.

Bystanders sourced and used the defibrillator from the centre, and paramedics arrived at the scene to revive Mr Zdybel.

Meanwhile, Mr Zdybel said he did not see white lights some associate with dying.

He felt he was observing what transpired from above.

“I would say I was a bit out of body,” he said.

His will to live shone through.

“I was not going anywhere,” he said.

Phillip Zdybel and his son Josh in 2015. Photo: Justice Cameron

He said it was a “miracle” he suffered sudden cardiac arrest while around so many people.

Mr Zdybel said it could have occurred while he was exercising at the You Yangs, in his sleep, or at his job as a taxi driver for disabled people.

“No one would have found me,” he said.

“I’m a miracle man.”

Mr Zdybel, who was on life support at Geelong hospital and had a stent installed, was discharged after a week.

He believes fitness and mindset were key to his survival.

After considering giving up martial arts prior to the health drama, he has already returned and competed on the weekend alongside his son.

He feels largely recovered, but has noticed increased fatigue.

There are about 20,000 sudden cardiac arrests in Australia out of hospital annually and only 10 per cent of people survive, according to the Heart Foundation website.

Everyone should know CPR and defibrillators should be widely available, Mr Zdybel said.

His brush with death has changed his perspective on life.

“All the little things we worry about are not worth worrying about,” he said.

“Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do anything.”

Originally published as Phill Zdybel revived after cardiac arrest