‘I believe that God brought me back for my baby's sake’

‘I believe that God brought me back for my baby’s sake’

Jun 26, 2022 News

…says first-time mother who was pulled from the brink of death

By Romario Blair

Kaieteur News – First time mother, Karishma Mangal got a second shot at life on May 10th, last, after surviving what medical personnel have described as a 15-minute cardiac arrest.

Karishma Mangal was pulled from the brink of death

While her miraculous recovery can be attributed to the hard work and dedication of a few medical practitioners, Mangal believes that her Creator also had other plans for her.
Mangal is an 18-year-old mother, who presently resides in the Charity Squatting area. This publication learnt that she suffered an Eclampsia Seizure. This type of seizure is pregnancy-related, and is caused by severe pre-eclampsia, which is a pressure related condition. This type of seizure can be lethal and almost claimed Mangal’s life after a 15-minute battle against cardiac arrest.
During an exclusive interview with The Waterfalls last week, the still shaken Mangal shared her belief that although she was so close to death, God brought her back for her baby’s sake. The young mother is convinced that leaving this world without holding or even glancing at her newborn, would have been totally unjust.
A second shot
Mangal explained that her miraculous recovery means that she gets to be the best mother she can possibly be. When asked how she feels about being a mother, Mangal warmly smiled and said, “It feels strange being a mom, I mean it’s only been a month and like two weeks. It’s honestly getting easier now, but before, breastfeeding was a little strange, not knowing how to really do it. And then at first, I didn’t know what to do when he started crying and how to go about comforting him, but after time I became a bit accustomed. I mean I’m still learning, and I think trying to be better is the main thing.”
Ignoring the signs
Mangal said that she was quite fine throughout her pregnancy. But during the ninth month, she began to notice changes. While the nervousness and anxiety were issues she was dealing with, she recalled that her body began to swell uncontrollably. “I was nervous for a lot of reasons, knowing that my time was drawing near, and trying to comprehend what to expect, especially the labour pain. So, I found myself stressing a lot,” said Mangal.
She related too that “I realised though as the nine-month approached that I use to get sick a lot, then my foot started swelling and like my entire body started to swell. I didn’t take it seriously, but all the events were signs that the pressure was increasing.”
May 10th
For Mangal, and her mother, Angela Tobin, May 10, 2022, is a date that will forever be etched in their memories. On the morning of May 10th, Mangal suffered two seizures at home. This experience was first relayed by Mangal herself, and then her mother. When asked to describe her experience, Mangal said, “The morning before I got the baby is when I had the seizure. I can remember feeling like I was going to fall when walking, my head was swinging, I was unable to stand for long because my feet felt weak.”
She added, “I can remember mommy sending me to go get a bath and to put on clothes to head to the hospital. I did bathe and then I lay on the bed for a bit, but when I stand up I fell down back. I start seeing the whole room spinning and that was it, I can’t remember nothing else. Until I woke up back at Georgetown Hospital.”
The teens mother said that she immediately reached out to an aunt, and assistance was quickly rendered. “We got a taxi to come out of the dam to pick her up. And we got some additional help from the neighbours and so to help lift her out. When we carry her to Charity Hospital, there she start get seizure again; this was the third seizure at Charity. They give her saline, and oxygen then they took her to Suddie,” Tobin related.
Flatlined
Tobin said that when her daughter arrived at the Suddie Public Hospital, she was admitted in the Emergency Ward. She was subsequently whisked away to the operating room, where she underwent a C-Section operation.
According to Tobin, “After they did the C-Section they took the baby to the incubator, of course the baby was healthy. So, before I came home, I made sure that both the baby and my daughter were okay. She was responsive after the operation, and we even talked for a bit.”
Some four hours later, however, the worst was yet to come. Dr. Abel Caesar, who is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist attached to the Suddie Public Hospital, said some four hours after the operation, Mangal was moved to the Intensive Case Unit, as she suffered yet another severe seizure. When invited for a comment, Caesar explained, “One of the nurses at the bedside realised that the patient went flatlined, the medical term for it is called ‘code blue,’ which meant that a heart-beat could not have been found.”
Caesar said, “So immediately after it was realised that this patient was unresponsive, the medical team, which consisted of eight persons at the time, went on to commence revival, this included CPR and applied medication. It was miraculous though, when after 13 minutes of being unresponsive, we had a heart beat registering… the patient couldn’t breathe for herself just yet, so we had to insert a tube… she was still at risk of having another cardiac arrest.”
Caesar said that the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation was contacted again, and a helicopter was sent within an hour. Mangal was air dashed to Georgetown, where further treatment was administered.
Miraculous ending
After twelve days at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Mangal was eventually discharged and reunited with her husband Nicholas Williams, and family. She said, “When I opened my eyes, I realised that I was plugged up to machines, and I had no memory of what happened. There was so much I wanted to see; I was studying my baby how he was… I couldn’t wait to come home.”
During an invited comment, Tobin said, “I’m happy how things turned out, I was begging and praying that God would keep her safe. I mean she’s not feeling the best, because she still cannot fatigue out of the risk of raising the pressure again. The main thing though is that she’s here with us, and she’ll attend her clinic.”
Mangal and her bouncing baby boy, who she named Anthony Williams, are alive and well, due to the efforts of all medical professionals involved. When asked if there’s anything she’d like to say to them she said, “I would like to send out a special thank you to all the doctors and nurses of the Georgetown and Suddie Public Hospitals for saving my life. Thank you all very much, and though these words may be few, they are sincere.”