My husband and I have followed Alistair on the BBC for years watching and listening to his calm manner helping others find their dream homes in the countryside. He has been my favorite to watch.

On March 23, 2021 my heart stopped and I quit breathing. I had what is called an out-of-hospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Without warning you drop and lose consciousness. I was clinically dead for 18 minutes. When paramedics reached me I was cyanic (blue) and fully coded. They worked on me with CPR and AED shocks for an hour then transported me to a heart hospital 30 miles away (we had recently moved out to the country) where the ER worked on me for two more hours. Because of being without a pulse or respiration I have what is called an acquired brain injury so my memory is pretty well shot. People that survive not only an out-of-hospital Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) but also survive being discharged from the hospital are very rare - about 8% will survive. There is a Survivors group on FB that I am a member of with people from the UK, USA, Australia, and all over. We learn more from each other's experiences than we do from our medical teams.

Because of my SCA I have a new perspective on life - when you code and go through something like this you come back different from before. You may look the same, but you're not. Dying was the easy part, living now with all of the changes your body experienced physically and mentally is a huge pain to deal with. Life goes on thankfully and I am blessed and thankful to have more time with family and friends.

I have come to Alistair's site for calmness and learning, and meeting others who care deeply about changing their lives for the better through his teachings.

I look forward to all I can learn and feel from Alistair and what others share. Thank you for allowing me to join this marvelous community.