Spain hospital saves British woman after 6-hour heart stop

MADRID – A 34-year-old British woman has been revived by Spanish doctors after enduring a six-hour cardiac arrest.

Barcelona’s Vall d’Hebron hospital said Thursday that Audrey Marsh got caught in a snowstorm in the Spanish Pyrenees on Nov.3 and suffered severe hypothermia before entering cardio-respiratory arrest.

Six hours later, after being rescued by helicopter, she was revived in the hospital.

Hospital doctor Eduard Argudo said Marsh arrived with a body temperature of 20 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) — the normal temperature is 37C.

However, he said the sharp fall may have saved her as the cold preserved her organs.

The hospital said in a statement that Marsh, a resident of Barcelona, still hasn’t fully recovered feeling in her hands but will be able to return to work in coming days.