Miracle recovery from 40-minute death at Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre

A TRIATHLETE who was clinically dead for 40 minutes was brought back to life by a group of people who refused to give up on her.

Clare Carney

A FORMER junior world champion triathlete who was clinically dead for more than 40 minutes was brought back to life by an extraordinary group of people who refused to give up on her.

The key to Clare Carney's remarkable recovery from a cardiac arrest was the lifeline of caregivers and an experimental CPR machine that virtually bear hugged her all the way to hospital- keeping blood flowing to her vital organs and brain.

In eerily similar circumstances, her sister, Emma, a dual world champion triathlete had her career cut short, in 2004 because of a different life-threatening heart condition, ventricular tachycardia.

Clare's dramatic poolside rescue began when the 38-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest at Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre on November 17.

Swimmer Nick O'Leary only noticed Ms Carney doing laps because, for once, his goggles had not fogged up.

"Then I got down to one end and she wasn't there," he said.

When he reached the other end he spotted her - floating on the surface, face down.

"As I turned around she had begun sinking to the bottom," he said.

He swam to her aid, pulling her up on to the lane ropes and yelling to the MSAC lifeguard, Pedro Vivas. They dragged Ms Carney up to the side of the pool and began CPR.

Within six minutes Ambulance Victoria paramedics and South Melbourne MFB officers arrived.

MFB station officer Mick Childs said they took turns performing CPR for at least 35 exhausting minutes.

Paramedics put a breathing tube in and tried to use a defibrillator to shock Ms Carney's heart out of a quiver, a condition called ventricular fibrillation.

She did not respond.

"With a lot of cardiac arrests like this, you would stop treating them if they did not respond and call it on the scene," MICA paramedic Phil Smith said.

But he knew the Alfred Hospital was just minutes away and given her age and peak physical condition, he decided to transport her.

To keep the CPR going he used the AutoPulse machine, which was being used in a separate trial.

It delivers consistent chest compressions that improve blood flow.

Returning to the pool yesterday, with a pacemaker defibrillator fitted to stop it occurring again, Ms Carney paid tribute to her saviours.

"It's really bizarre. I woke up three days later and I was in ICU," she said.

"But I feel quite overwhelmed to know that I was in their hands from Nick who noticed me not swimming, to Pedro who started the CPR to the paramedics and firefighters and doctors. It's amazing."