- Megan collapsed during an Adele concert after her heart suddenly stopped for eight minutes.
- A doctor in the crowd recognised the signs and performed CPR until paramedics arrived.
- Doctors later diagnosed supraventricular tachycardia, a condition previously dismissed as harmless palpitations.
- After surgery and recovery, Megan is alive, grateful, and living life with renewed perspective.
Here Megan Nicholson, 55, Sydney, NSW tells her own story in her own words.
Sipping my diet cola, I was giddy with excitement.
‘Not long now,’ I said to my goddaughter Emily, then 22, as we made our way to our front row seats.
It was March 2017 and British superstar Adele was about to take the stage.
I’d fallen in love with her music when she burst on the scene. I played her 2011 hit ‘Rolling in the Deep’ constantly at home.
So when it was announced she was touring Australia, my husband Andrew, then 51, purchased me a VIP front row ticket for my early birthday gift.
I was over the moon!
I’m going to die, I thought, terrified as my world went black.
Now Emily and I joined the chorus of whoops and cheers as Adele finally took to the stage.
I couldn’t believe she was so close!
I’d even brought along a bracelet to throw on stage as a gift.
We danced and sang along as she made her way through her catalogue of chart-toppers.
Then, about halfway through the show, I saw my moment to toss the bracelet. As Adele walked nearer to me, I got ready to throw it.
Suddenly, my heart started banging in my chest. I felt clammy and nauseous, followed by a deep sense of dread.
I’m going to die, I thought, terrified as my world went black.
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When I came to, I was surrounded by beeping machines.
Andrew, my daughter, Olivia, 24, and my son Kurt, 21, were by my bedside.
What’s happening? I wondered. Where’s Adele?
With a tube down my throat, and oxygen in my nose, I wasn’t able to talk.
But when a doctor came to speak to me minutes later, he explained I’d suffered a cardiac arrest.
‘Your heart had stopped for eight minutes at the concert,’ he revealed.
My eyes grew wide. That strange feeling in my chest had been my heart stopping.
I listened in shock as he described how a doctor, Stefanie Kokal, who happened to be at the show, saw me fall and recognised the signs of a cardiac arrest.
She gave me CPR for 20 minutes until an ambulance arrived and rushed me to Westmead Hospital.
‘You’ve been in a coma for six days. You’re lucky to be alive,’ the doctor continued.
As the news of what had happened sank in, I was left reeling.
I can’t believe I’d been clinically dead for eight minutes!
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As the tube from my throat was removed hours later, I was relieved I could speak again.
‘Adele asked about you, Mum,’ Olivia said, pulling up a video on her phone from the concert the night after ours.
‘At this point in the show last night, there was a lady, she got really ill down there… I don’t know if she’s okay yet, but I’d like to sing this song for her tonight,’ Adele was heard telling the crowd.
But that wasn’t all.
‘Her personal assistant has been in touch, and he sent flowers on Adele’s instruction,’ Olivia added.
My heart had gone into overdrive and then stopped.
I was shocked.
Adele knew about me?!
‘How is Emily?’ I rasped, worried that she’d been upset by my turn.
‘She’s okay. It’s you we were worried about, love,’ Andrew replied.
Scans of my heart revealed the arrest was caused by supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) where the heart beats far too fast.
I’d been having palpitations for years, and was always told not to worry about them. Every doctor I’d seen before brushed them off as harmless.
But that night the adrenaline rush of being at a concert pushed my heart over the edge. The condition is common in elite athletes. But my heart had gone into overdrive and then stopped.
Over the next six weeks doctors scanned all my organs, as well as my brain, to check for long lasting damage.
Thankfully, they all came back clear, and there was nothing of concern in my cognitive function.
It was a miracle.
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Throughout it all, Andrew never left my side.
I also started seeing a psychologist to cope with the trauma of my near-death experience.
By mid-April, I came home and focused on healing.
Each day I got stronger.
Three months after my ordeal, I had a cardiac ablation – using a laser doctors created a tiny scar on my heart muscle which blocked the faulty electrical signals that caused the irregular heartbeat.
While I haven’t been able to see Adele in concert again, I’m so thankful for all I do have.
Now, I never sweat the small stuff, instead spending time on the things that bring joy to my life, such as spending time with my family, Andrew, now 58, Olivia, 32, Kurt, 29, my adorable nine-month-old grandson Corbin – and of course, I still listen to Adele daily!
It’s by some miracle, and thanks to the incredible doctor who commenced CPR, the paramedics, and hospital staff that I’m alive today.
Stefanie and I were reunited the day I was discharged. It was so emotional.
Now, we’re firm friends and talk almost daily.
Not many people can say they’ve said Hello from the other side, and that’s a gift I’m not wasting!
