In a shocking turn of events that sounds straight out of a Hollywood movie, Natasha Sokunbi went to the hospital with chest pains—only to die for 14 minutes and wake up as a mother.
At 37 weeks pregnant, Natasha, 30, felt unwell for weeks due to a chest infection. On December 3rd, she finally called 111 and was advised to head to Royal Stoke University Hospital. Taking a taxi to A&E, she stepped inside the hospital, only to collapse in the waiting room from a cardiac arrest.
What followed was a race against death itself—as doctors fought to save not one, but two lives.
A Desperate Fight to Bring Her Back
The moment Natasha collapsed, hospital staff sprang into action. But the situation was worse than anyone could have imagined—she had completely flatlined. Her heart had stopped beating. She was clinically dead.
As one medical team performed CPR, shocking her heart, desperately trying to bring her back, another team rushed to deliver her baby via emergency C-section—a race against time to save her unborn child.
The baby, named Beau, was delivered just four minutes after Natasha’s heart stopped. But Natasha herself showed no signs of life for 14 whole minutes.
Incredibly, after more than 30 minutes of resuscitation efforts, the doctors finally brought her back—though she was immediately placed in an induced coma to stabilize her condition.
Waking up to the Ultimate Surprise
When Natasha finally regained consciousness in intensive care, she had no idea what had happened. Her husband, Ayo, 29, walked over to her bedside holding a photo. “It’s a girl,” he said.
Natasha was stunned. She hadn’t even known the baby’s sex. In those 24 hours, she had died, been revived, and unknowingly become a mother all at once.
“I couldn’t see Beau straight away because I was still very weak and she was in the neonatal unit,” she recalled. “But when I finally did, it was the most emotional moment of my life.”
A Miracle That Almost Didn’t Happen
Natasha, who had previous heart problems, believes that her pregnancy added extra strain on her heart. The stress of carrying a child had pushed her body to its absolute limit—and beyond.
She remembers falling forward onto her baby bump when she collapsed and even recalls feeling pain during the C-section—despite being medically dead at the time.
Her story is one in a million—and the medical staff who saved both her and Beau were rightfully honored.
Dr. Andrew Bennett, who led the medical team, called it “one of the proudest moments this department has ever seen”, and the hospital staff were awarded the Chief Executive Award for their extraordinary efforts.
“I Was Dead. They Saved Me.”
Today, Natasha holds her daughter Beau in her arms, knowing that she almost never got to meet her.
“I was basically dead when they pulled her out,” she said. “They saved my baby, and they saved me.”
A real-life miracle—one that Natasha, her family, and the hospital staff will never forget.
