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Evelina, 30, stopped breathing on the way to preschool
Oskar and Evelina Gren. On the right, Evelina is seen lying on the ground, after paramedics arrived at the scene.
Evelina, 30, stopped breathing on the way to preschool
Oskar and Evelina Gren were on their way in the car to the preschool to pick up their youngest son when it happened.
- Evelina made a scary sound. It was like an abyssal roar, says Oskar.
His wife's whole body was tense and Oskar understood that something was seriously wrong.
It was at the beginning of October in Ljungsbro outside Linköping. The couple Oskar, 39, and Evelina Gren, 30, had been busy lately. Enough because there is always so much to do with three children who are 12, 9 and 2 years old.
- We had just moved to a new house and it was stressful. In retrospect, perhaps it was thought that there were signs there. But there and then you didn't think about it, notes Oskar.
Evelina had been up the night before and cleaned the house. The couple sat in the car and talked about everyday affairs on the way to the preschool to pick up the youngest Emil. They were almost there when something unexpected happened.
- Suddenly Evelina's whole body tensed up and she made a strange noise.
At first Oskar thought she was joking, because sometimes Evelina gets cramps in her calf and makes noises.
- But it was a few steps worse and it never ended. At first I told her: “Knock it off, stop pulling my leg. Don't exaggerate your cramping”. But I got no response.
Oskar describes it as his "spider-man sense came to life".
- I understood that something was wrong.
Was blue in the face
Oskar stopped the car immediately. At this point, the pair were only 20 meters from the preschool. When Oskar ran around the car and opened the car door, Evelina sat there, completely lifeless.
- She had no pulse and was blue in the face. In principle, I had to take her out there in the preschool parking lot and start CPR. Luckily there were no children out at the time.
Oskar called 112 and had to wait on the phone. He felt an immense panic. Thoughts raced through his head. What would happen if Evelina didn't make it? How would it affect the children, and not least the youngest son who would then not even have any memories of his mother? At the same time, he tried to have full focus on Evelina.
- I have some experience with this from before. I did the same thing on a colleague who went into cardiac arrest. He didn't make it and I had flashbacks from it.
Two passers-by stopped and helped Oskar.
- Perhaps they didn't do much in practical terms, they offered a jacket as a pillow. But it meant a great deal to me at the time that I was not completely alone in a very vulnerable situation. They are my heroes. They were there with me the whole time and were an incredible support.
At the same time, Oskar had SOS Alarm on the phone. He got updates on where the ambulance was.
- It was also a security that I knew they would be there soon. Shortly before the ambulance arrived, I got her to start breathing a little anyway. She showed that sign of life. But she didn't recover until she got to the hospital.
Never happened before
Evenlina was taken to the University Hospital in Linköping. There it took about an hour before she regained her composure enough to understand what she had been through.
- At first I thought we had been involved in a car accident, she says.
Evelina had to go through a series of tests. At first it was not known what had happened, but later it turned out that she had suffered a severe epileptic seizure, a so-called grand mal. The diagnosis came like a bolt from above.
- I have never had a seizure before. You were alert and happy, then you woke up in the emergency room all of a sudden and remembered nothing.
Evelina Gren's picture from the hospital. At first she was confused and did not understand what had happened. "At first I thought we had been involved in a car accident," she says. Photo: Private
Oskar notes that they were lucky in their misfortune.
- It could just as easily have been the case that Evelina had been behind the wheel and had the children with her in the car.
For Evelina, the diagnosis has affected her life. She is now on medication for her epilepsy and is not allowed to drive.
- It's a one-year ban now, and during that time I have to be seizure-free.
Evelina has her husband Oskar to thank for her life.
- At first I tried to make a joke of it, that I was dead for a couple of minutes. It feels very unrealistic when you are 30 years old. But the more I think about it, the more I change my mind. If it wasn't for Oskar, I wouldn't be here now.
Evelina, 30, stopped breathing on the way to preschool
Oskar and Evelina Gren were on their way in the car to the preschool to pick up their youngest son when it happened.
- Evelina made a scary sound. It was like an abyssal roar, says Oskar.
His wife's whole body was tense and Oskar understood that something was seriously wrong.
It was at the beginning of October in Ljungsbro outside Linköping. The couple Oskar, 39, and Evelina Gren, 30, had been busy lately. Enough because there is always so much to do with three children who are 12, 9 and 2 years old.
- We had just moved to a new house and it was stressful. In retrospect, perhaps it was thought that there were signs there. But there and then you didn't think about it, notes Oskar.
Evelina had been up the night before and cleaned the house. The couple sat in the car and talked about everyday affairs on the way to the preschool to pick up the youngest Emil. They were almost there when something unexpected happened.
- Suddenly Evelina's whole body tensed up and she made a strange noise.
At first Oskar thought she was joking, because sometimes Evelina gets cramps in her calf and makes noises.
- But it was a few steps worse and it never ended. At first I told her: “Knock it off, stop pulling my leg. Don't exaggerate your cramping”. But I got no response.
Oskar describes it as his "spider-man sense came to life".
- I understood that something was wrong.
Was blue in the face
Oskar stopped the car immediately. At this point, the pair were only 20 meters from the preschool. When Oskar ran around the car and opened the car door, Evelina sat there, completely lifeless.
- She had no pulse and was blue in the face. In principle, I had to take her out there in the preschool parking lot and start CPR. Luckily there were no children out at the time.
Oskar called 112 and had to wait on the phone. He felt an immense panic. Thoughts raced through his head. What would happen if Evelina didn't make it? How would it affect the children, and not least the youngest son who would then not even have any memories of his mother? At the same time, he tried to have full focus on Evelina.
- I have some experience with this from before. I did the same thing on a colleague who went into cardiac arrest. He didn't make it and I had flashbacks from it.
Two passers-by stopped and helped Oskar.
- Perhaps they didn't do much in practical terms, they offered a jacket as a pillow. But it meant a great deal to me at the time that I was not completely alone in a very vulnerable situation. They are my heroes. They were there with me the whole time and were an incredible support.
At the same time, Oskar had SOS Alarm on the phone. He got updates on where the ambulance was.
- It was also a security that I knew they would be there soon. Shortly before the ambulance arrived, I got her to start breathing a little anyway. She showed that sign of life. But she didn't recover until she got to the hospital.
Never happened before
Evenlina was taken to the University Hospital in Linköping. There it took about an hour before she regained her composure enough to understand what she had been through.
- At first I thought we had been involved in a car accident, she says.
Evelina had to go through a series of tests. At first it was not known what had happened, but later it turned out that she had suffered a severe epileptic seizure, a so-called grand mal. The diagnosis came like a bolt from above.
- I have never had a seizure before. You were alert and happy, then you woke up in the emergency room all of a sudden and remembered nothing.
Oskar notes that they were lucky in their misfortune.
- It could just as easily have been the case that Evelina had been behind the wheel and had the children with her in the car.
For Evelina, the diagnosis has affected her life. She is now on medication for her epilepsy and is not allowed to drive.
- It's a one-year ban now, and during that time I have to be seizure-free.
Evelina has her husband Oskar to thank for her life.
- At first I tried to make a joke of it, that I was dead for a couple of minutes. It feels very unrealistic when you are 30 years old. But the more I think about it, the more I change my mind. If it wasn't for Oskar, I wouldn't be here now.
