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Mar 26, 2009 4:06 pm US/Central
Azle Woman Recovers From Rare Medical Condition
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
An Azle woman is recovering from injuries that doctor's rarely see in a living person.
Tuesday, Jamie McPhearson minutes from death in a Fort Worth emergency room.
Now she's looking forward to returning home for the weekend.
McPhearson had just dropped her two-year-old son off at daycare near Lake Worth.
"I'd just crossed underneath the 820 bridge and that's when I hit the guard rail," she said. "Because I was knocked out, I don't remember anything."
When she got to Harris Methodist, she began turning blue from the chest up.
"Because of the trauma of hitting the steering wheel, my heart had blood surrounding it," McPhearson said.
Blood squeezed her heart, causing it stop.
The trauma surgeon on duty recognized the symptoms few see in a living person.
"This is a common autopsy finding from car accidents and people have died and this is diagnosed as why they died," said Dr. Bill Witham.
Doctor Witham cut a hole in her side, went around the lungs and drained the fluid around her heart with a catheter.
"If it wouldn't have been him here, I wouldn't have made it," McPhearson said.
"She had to be at the right place at the right time, which means everything had to work right," said Witham.
"I feel lucky," said McPhearson. "I get to go home with my husband and my two kids, so I'm blessed. You know, I'm just ready to go home."
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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