A doctor is feeling grateful after a physician assistant saved her life.
According to WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore, 61-year-old Dr. Jacquelyn Lacera was traveling home from her honeymoon in Hawaii to California when she began to feel unwell an hour into the flight.
“I became really nauseous. Thankfully, I was very close to the restroom, so I ran to the restroom and started vomiting, and I became very sweaty … and then I started to have very bad chest pain,” she said.
After a call for medical assistance was made, fellow passenger Emily Haley — an emergency room physician assistant at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center — sprung into action.
“We’re just getting settled, about to go to sleep for an overnight flight, and there was a call overhead for some help, for medical assistance,” Haley told 11 News.
Haley first checked Lacera’s vital signs and discovered that the doctor was having some type of arrhythmia.
According to the Mayo Clinic, arrhythmia is an irregular heartbeat that happens when the heart’s electrical signals don’t work properly.
“Once we had her blood pressure cuff attached, I saw that she was hypertensive. At that moment, we both talked about this, and I knew I needed to act quickly,” Haley said.
The physician assistant then gave Lacera fluids and oxygen before laying her down.
Although the medical professionals were working together, Lacera continued to deteriorate, resulting in Haley deciding she needed to use a defibrillator.
“We talked about it, and I said, ‘I think I need to shock you.’ I said, ‘I don’t have a choice.’ And, she said, ‘Let’s do it,’ ” Haley told 11 News.
Lacera explained, “I said, ‘Okay, this is a shockable rhythm.’ That was a decision that had to be made at that minute, at that second. I just looked at her and she looked at me. She was like ‘Okay, says it’s shockable,’ and I said, ‘Do it.’ ”
“That was the most painful thing I’ve ever been through,” she added.
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The shock was successful, enabling Lacera to be stabilized until they landed in California. The airline also sent Haley a letter thanking her for her help, according to the outlet.
“It’s amazing. God put her in that situation, and she did everything right. It was wonderful,” Lacera said of Haley, per wbaltv.com.
“I’m just so happy she is doing well, and I hope to stay in touch, hope she’s connected to me forever,” Haley added.
According to the outlet, Lacera is recovering and is due to have some heart procedures.
PEOPLE has contacted MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center for comment.
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