One grandmother had the luckiest near miss with death after she had a heart attack on a plane - only to find there were 15 cardiologists on board to help her.
Mid-flight medical emergencies can be pretty scary, particularly on a transatlantic flight where the nearest emergency stop could still be hours away if you just so happen to be above the middle of the ocean when it strikes.
Nobody wants to hear the pilot calling out to ask if there's a medic on board, and while there may be one or two doctors or nurses on board, there's rarely ever 15 of them, all specializing in the exact emergency you need help for.
Well, luckily for Dorothy Fletcher, this exact scenario happened when she suffered a heart attack on a plane from Manchester, UK, to Florida, US, and was saved by 15 cardiologists who were on their way to a conference.
Dorothy, who was 67 at the time of the incident in 2003, had been on the flight heading to her daughter's wedding in Florida.
However, the grandmother, who is from Liverpool, UK, started to feel unwell midway through the journey, telling BBC Breakfast at the time: "I realized I was having a heart attack. I had a terrible pain in my back, across my chest, and down my arm. I was sweating profusely and vomiting."
A stewardess then put a call out asking:"Is there a doctor on the plane?"
Luckily, all 15 cardiologists who were on their way to a heart conference in the States stood up to help give her lifesaving treatment until the plane could make an emergency landing.
Dorothy revealed: "I only realized when they said is there a doctor on board and all the lights above their heads began lighting up and they all came running towards me.
"I can't believe there were so many doctors - never mind cardiologists - on a plane."
She admitted that seeing so many highly qualified doctors were there with her helped calm her nerves, adding: "It was so frightening. I had never experienced a heart attack. But to see so many people helping me took the fright away."
The group of cardiologists immediately took action by putting drips in her arm and using equipment from an on-board medical kit to give her emergency assistance until the plane could make an emergency landing in North Carolina.
Dorothy revealed that it was touch and go at times, adding: "I heard a voice saying, 'I think we're losing her' and I wanted to tell them I wasn't dead, but another doctor then said he had found a pulse."
She was taken off the plane once it touched down and spent two days in intensive care at the Charlotte Medical Center before being transferred to a normal ward for another three days.
Despite the terrifying start to her trip and the unplanned hospital admission, Dorothy thankfully still managed to make it to her daughter Christine's wedding which took place the following week.
She expressed her gratitude to the doctors on board, adding: "The doctors were wonderful. They saved my life.
"I wish I could thank them but I have no idea who they were, other than that they were going to a conference in Orlando."
Her daughter, Christine Penman, 32, who married her fiancé Gareth, added: "2003 was my best and almost my worst of years. We'll see in the new year by giving thanks that my mum got through what she did.
"We owe those cardiologists and the airline so much. My mum wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for those doctors but in the rush, we didn't even know any of their names - and we still don't."
