'Everything happened so quickly': Grandmother has heart attack half an hour into flight
A grandmother who had a heart attack on a plane just after takeoff says the flight staff and doctors on board saved her life.
Jennifer Holm was travelling from Sydney home to Perth on a Virgin flight with her husband John Muller when about 30 minutes in, she started to feel "really weird".
"My arms started to get pins and needles, I felt nauseous and short of breath," she said.
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Jennifer Holm and her husband John Muller were flying from Sydney to Perth when the grandmother had a heart attack. Supplied/Virgin Australia
"I said to John that I just felt terrible and he looked at me and said I was grey," she said.
Her husband said she "looked really crook" and "she started to shake".
He called for a flight attendant for help but the situation turned serious quickly. Fight staff called for any doctors on board and Holm was moved out of her seat.
"They put me on the ground up near the entrance to the plane and I was laid on the floor for the next one and a half hours really trying to stay alive," she said.
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The grandmother survived and credited the Virgin Australia crew with saving her life. Supplied/Virgin Australia
"They couldn't find a heartbeat or my pulse for a long time... and I just thought: 'I'm not going to make this'.
"I was going in and out of consciousness."
The plane was diverted to Adelaide so the grandmother could be taken to hospital. The couple both praised the cabin crew for keeping calm and saving her life.
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