Pregnant woman saves husband’s life just days before giving birth

A heavily pregnant woman who was hours away from giving birth had her entire world turned upside down when she woke to find her husband fighting for his life.

Ashley Goette was 39 weeks pregnant when she noticed Andrew gasping for air in his sleep on October 16 – hours before she was scheduled to be induced to give birth at a local hospital.

Acting quickly, the St. Paul Minnesota woman called emergency services and a dispatcher walked her through how to deliver CPR over the phone until the ambulance arrived.

By the time Andrew, 28, arrived at Minnesota’s United Hospital, he was "in full cardiac arrest and had been without oxygen for a significant period," his family said in an official statement.

He was placed in a medically-induced coma on life support in intensive care, with his family being told to prepare for the worst by doctors.

Due to oxygen deprivation, CT and MRI scans were showing that a fatal injury was likely. Even if Andrew survived the coma, he would face life-changing injuries.

Over the next 24 hours, doctors worked hard to lower the 28-year-old’s body temperature to allow his brain the chance to heal.

Despite facing the prospect of life without her husband and the father of her then-unborn child, Ashley refused to give up hope.

"I didn’t want to have to think for one second about having to do any of this without him," Ashley told FOX9.

"I kept telling him the whole time he was asleep, or in his coma, that I was not going to have this baby until he woke up,"

Miraculously, Andrew woke up the next day.

"The nurse grabbed him and said ‘Andrew, do you know you’re having a baby?’ And he went, ‘Mmhmm’," Ashley recalled.

"And she was like, ‘Do you want to be there to be a part of your baby’s life?’ And he shook his head yes."

The mum-to-be was induced the following day, welcoming son Lennon Andrew Goette.

Andrew was the first to hold the newborn.

Doctors believe Andrew’s cardiac arrest was caused by a condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. 

"I think we're both a little nervous to go home because it's going to be so much different than when we left, but no we're very anxious to get home," Ashley said.

"He's coming home. And that's really the only thing that matters."