At the intersection of Barker and 29th street in Lumberton, the route for many emergencies, this is no trip, a young mother should have to make.
For 20-year-old Tiera Fulton, she just gave birth to her second daughter in November.
“I came into the hospital because I could hardly breathe. It was real scary because I never dealt with anything like this before,” said Fulton.
Shortly thereafter, Fulton was admitted into Southeastern Regional Medical where doctors found out she has a rare condition which consisted of failure in heart function causing her to black out.
“I didn’t know what to say…I was still in shock,” she mentioned.
Doctors sent her home with a wearable LifeVest defibrillator to wear around the clock providing shock treatment during sudden cardiac arrest.
However, on January 2, 2015 she experienced a sudden cardiac arrest at home.
“My sister was there with me. I just remember telling her I felt light headed and she said just heard me fall,” she said.
Fulton was shocked, not just once, but twice.
“The first shock didn’t bring me back, the second shot brought me back,” she explained.
“It’s shown to be life-saving treatment. So it is very, very important,” added
Sudden cardiac arrest claims the lives of 350,000 Americans each year.
However, thanks to a vest Fulton wasn’t one of them.
She did have a defibrillator implanted just a few days later.
SRMC says she’s the first patient this year saved by a LifeVest defibrillator.
