A BRITISH student died for 25 minutes during a serious surgery on a “silent killer” condition he never knew he had.
Charlie Vincent, 20, was rushed to hospital with second degree burns due to sunburn on a trip to the US – with doctors quickly noticing he had patches of pneumonia sitting on his lungs during treatment.
The youngster from Northamptonshire underwent an operation for the respiratory infection but during surgery he suffered a shock cardiac arrest.
Charlie went on to have a mini-stroke as doctors attempted to get his heart beating again.
It took a chilling 25 minutes before the 20-year-old’s heart restarted, his family said.
Charlie’s 24-year-old sister, Emily Vincent, described his operating table recovery as a “miracle”.
She told Real Life: “At one point, I just couldn’t see a way that Charlie was going to make it, it was absolutely heart-breaking, it was hell.
“It’s definitely a miracle that he’s still here.”
The student was in New Hampshire to teach six year olds how to canoe as part of a summer holiday camp to the US.
After only hours of being outside Charlie was left with extreme sunburn on his legs.
In the following days things “deteriorated quickly” with the young man falling ill, according to Emily.
The third-year film student at De Montfort University in Leicester was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment as doctors discovered a hidden health condition.
After routine checks doctors found he had pneumonia in his lungs as well as an enlarged heart causing his vital organs to work harder than normal, Emily continued.
The two major health scares worried doctors who started to make plans to have the 20-year-old operated on before his condition worsened.
Doctors say Charlie likely had the dangerous cardiac issue – known as cardiomegaly – from birth but the pneumonia may have caused it to flare up and become heightened.
Emily said: “We were told he was in a critical condition, even the doctors were so scared for him, and having no one out there must have been terrifying for him.
“He’s always been a healthy boy, he’s never showed any issues with his heart before, so it was just crazy to us for him to deteriorate so quickly.”
Charlie spent a week after the almost fatal surgery in an induced coma with doctors fearing he could need a heart and lung transplant.
He was hooked up to life support machines and transferred to two different hospitals for further checks before miraculously waking up.
Doctors were reportedly left amazed by his organs when they started to show signs of recovering.
With Charlie now back on his feet and walking around again.
He is due to return to the UK for further treatment in the coming days on a medical flight.
Charlie’s parents Joe, 47, and Sue Vincent, 50, flew out to be by their son’s side and have remained with him throughout.
Emily wasn’t able to go to the US but has stayed in contact through her parents.
She says Charlie is “looking really positive”.
He’s always been a healthy boy, he’s never showed any issues with his heart before, so it was just crazy to us for him to deteriorate so quickly
Emily Vincent
The sister added: “I was desperate to get out there, mum and dad were itching to get out there.
“My brother and me, we’re almost like twins – even though there’s a four-year age gap – he’s like my best mate.
“He is my rock and he always has been, so it was very difficult to think of a life without Charlie.”
The family are now waiting to hear how much of Charlie’s treatment will be covered by his insurance.
His parents have confirmed they are covered by up to £390,000 but due to the intricate surgery and extensive recovery process his US medical bills are set to be high.
Emily said the family have no idea about the final cost with staff saying they can’t give out a figure until his treatment is officially over.
To help cover the expected costs the family have set up a GoFundMe page.
It has already raised over £13,000 and is set to be spent on travel costs for the parents as well as the medical bills.
CARDIOMEGALY - also known simply as an enlarged heart - is when your heart is abnormally thick or overly stretched.
This results in it becoming larger than usual causing issues with pumping blood.
The condition can be temporary or permanent.
For many sufferers cardiomegaly is manageable and doesn’t impact daily lives.
Symptoms
Some people may experience no symptoms whatsoever.
People can go through surgery to help solve the condition by doctors implementing a defibrillator, valve or through revascularization.
