Brought back to life... twice: Colleen's story

Richard thought he’d lost the love of his life when his partner Colleen’s heart stopped not once, but twice, in the middle of the night – in the middle of the outback.

What started as a regular day for Colleen, soon turned into one where she struggled for her life.

After spending the day doing work around her house in the remote town of Andamooka – more than 500 kilometres north of Adelaide – the dust from the harsh outback caused her to collapse and lose consciousness. She told us:

“That night, I thought I felt okay. I went into the bedroom for a rest, but it was a feeling that didn’t go away.” When her partner Richard came to check on Colleen, she was struggling to breathe and deteriorating rapidly.

“Colleen was blue, with a purple colour to her lips. I went straight into giving her mouth-to-mouth, but I couldn’t because she was so rigid.

It started to hit me that it was really bad when Colleen started saying her goodbyes, ‘Tell my kids, my mum and dad that I love them dearly,’” Richard said.

Colleen needed immediate medical attention – Richard made the desperate call for help. 

Watch the above video for the full story.