Man survived 'sudden death syndrome' — a rare genetic condition that can 'kill' you multiple times
In the unlikely event that someone approaches Karl Wiggins with a weapon, the Texas native knows exactly what he would do: “I would say, ‘Shoot your best shot,’” Wiggins told local Houston news station KTRK. “‘I’ve been dead before.'”
Wiggins, who is a United Airlines employee, has actually been “dead” twice — both on a single day this past March. The 54-year-old told KTRK that he was driving with his mother when he reportedly fell unconscious and lost control of the wheel. Bystanders quickly jumped in to help his mom — who had successfully grabbed the wheel — and police arrived to give CPR. Although Wiggins was “blue and cold” by the time he got to the hospital, doctors were able to revive him using a defibrillator.
He had to be stabilized once more before they performed an electrocardiography (EKG) test, which uncovered the reason for the 54-year-old’s deaths: an extremely rare genetic condition called Brugada syndrome, or — as it’s nicknamed — sudden death syndrome. The Mayo Clinic defines Brugada syndrome as a “potentially life-threatening heart rhythm disorder” in which individuals “have an increased risk of abnormal heart rhythms from the lower chambers of the heart.”
The condition was first described in 1917 in the medical literature in the Philippines, where residents referred to it as bangungut (“to rise and moan in sleep”), from the moaning sounds that those suffering from it would make. Today, some still refer to it as the “moaning disease,” due to both the noises and the fact that it often strikes while someone is sleeping.
Although the disease can exist without symptoms for many years, its appearance causes a range of symptoms — from fainting, dizziness, or seizures to, as in Wiggins’s case, sudden death. According to the National Institutes of Health, Brugada “may be caused by a mutation in any of at least 16 genes” and is a genetically dominant disease more commonly found in men.
Based on the current research, the disease is specifically prevalent in Japan and generally more likely to be found in men of Asian descent. Although Brugada syndrome may sound intimidating, it’s not necessarily a death sentence. For those who are otherwise healthy, the prognosis is positive, with the main treatment options being either drug therapy or an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD).
Wiggins, who had an ICD implanted, equates it to a bodyguard. “That’s like having an EMT standing by with a defibrillator,” Wiggins told KTRK, “ready to shock you back to life.”
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