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Community Corner

Long Island Resident Brought Back to Life at LIJ Medical Center

The 24-year-old survives a near death experience thanks to the hospital's medical team.

Long Island resident Joanne Giacalone’s life changed forever on the afternoon of Dec. 20, 2011 when she passed out in a parking lot as a result of several cardiac arrests. She was 24-years-old.

Giacalone was transferred from another hospital to North Shore-LIJ, where she met the medical team that saved her life by doing constant chest compressions after discovering that she also had a significant pulmonary embolism (clots in the lungs).

Three weeks later, in the lobby of the , many people — including Dr. Michael Graver (the surgeon who saved Giacalone’s life) Dr. Jacob Scheinerman (Vice Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery) and Giacalone’s mother, Joyce, gathered to hear this story of fear, bravery and a miracle.

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“God is great, and so is the medical team here that helped save my daughter’s life,” Joyce said. “We’re here to tell you that miracles are possible.”

 Giacalone’s surgery was dramatic to say the least. At one point, because of internal swelling, her breast bone couldn’t be closed after surgery and she was brought to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) with her chest open and only a dressing covering her heart.

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Both Dr. Graver and Dr. Scheinerman referred to her as “their Christmas miracle,” because based on what they originally saw, they weren’t too optimistic she would survive.

After what was described as a “miraculous” discovery, Giacalone was allowed to go home on Jan. 3 and now, a month after her brush with death, the young nursing school graduate said she hoped to work at LIJ in the cardiothoracic unit — the place that saved her life.

Much to her surprise, Dr. Graver announced that Giacalone will be admitted into the Critical Care Nursing Fellowship later this year.

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