A tragic student was found dead on her 22nd birthday after getting in a hot tub. Alexandra Săsărman was found lying in the jacuzzi at her family’s cabin where she was staying with her friends to celebrate her birthday, having suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.
It’s thought her death may have been caused by the high temperature of the water. The tragedy unfolded on April 12 near Alexandra’s hometown of Bistrița in northern Romania, where her family is well known. Her father Ionuț is a dentist, and her mother, Mihaela, a civil servant; Alexandra was learning law at the Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca.
Cardiac arrest can be electrical issues which can cause the heart to stop beating. When the heart stops pumping blood, the person enters an unconscious state. This can be fatal and victims often decline in minutes. Therefore bystanders should always call for help and begin CPR at once. The key difference between this and Cardiorespiratory arrest is that the latter causes a sudden loss of breathing affects the heart function – also leading to unconsciousness. This is typically caused by issues with heart’s own electrical system which often interferes with its normal rhythm.
The British Heart Foundation says cardiac arrests are often brought on by heart conditions and that this is sadly the cause of thousands of lost lives every year in the UK. There are some conditions which increase the risk of an arrest occurring, one of which is a dangerously abnormal heart rhythm called arrhythmia. It can also be other inherited heart conditions, heart failure or a history of life-threatening heart rhythms in one’s family.
The site also states that many affected by SCD are unaware that they have the condition or are at risk, which often leads to sudden deaths “out of the blue”.
Friends and family took to socials to share their condolences. On Facebook, her professor said: “We don’t know why, we don’t know how something like this could have happened, we only know this: you left us so early and broke our hearts”.
They added: “Your beautiful face and soul will remain as vivid and precious memories. Smooth road to the stars, dear Alexandra”. The young woman has now been buried beside her late grandmother in the town of Năsăud.
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