York mother’s ‘miracle’ after her heart stops at cinema
Primary school teacher Caroline Kimberling, 36, was watching the trailers with her sons Zach, 10, and seven-year-old Ben, before the children’s film the House of Magic started, when she went into cardiac arrest.
Zach, who had been chatting to his mother, ran into the lobby of Vue Cinema in York to raise the alarm when she became unresponsive. The commotion caused during the 10.30am screening drew the attention of a nurse and physiotherapist who by chance were in the cinema with their children.
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Hide AdThe pair, along with a member of staff trained in first aid, rushed to her aid and are credited with saving her life by carrying out resuscitation, before paramedics arrived to shock Caroline’s heart back into action on the cinema floor.
Mrs Kimberling’s husband Dr Daniel Kimberling, a GP, said: “It’s amazing how so many strangers helped her. It was a kids’ club screening so the place was full of children but everyone used their common sense and stayed calm.
“When Zach ran out to get help, the nurse and physiotherapist, who were sitting nearby, just jumped into action.
“They checked her pulse and realised she’d stopped breathing. By this point a member of staff came running in and resuscitated her.
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Hide Ad“I’m convinced that if it hadn’t been for their actions, we would have lost an amazing wife and a loving mum that day.
“I can’t thank everyone enough and Zach was amazing. It must have been incredibly traumatic for him and it’s not something a child should have to see but he just got on with it.”
Mrs Kimberling, a primary school teacher, was rushed to hospital where she was put into a medically induced coma for 24 hours. She is now recovering at home following nearly two weeks in hospital.
She said: “It seems a miracle, I have been so fortunate. Not many people go through what I have been through and live, or live and not be brain-damaged.”