What It's Like to Survive a Death Event

What It's Like To...

Send us a text

In July 1990, Joyce Mikal-Flynn died after finishing a swimming race and sinking to the bottom of the pool. After 22 minutes of CPR, she was revived--but her recovery took much longer than that. One of her doctors later said, "You are the luckiest person I've ever met." In this episode, Dr. Mikal-Flynn describes her death-defying--and life-altering--experience, her road back to health, and how she found new purpose in helping others grow and thrive. She is now a professor and an expert in resilience and recovery; she also has developed a system called metahabilitation, which helps veterans, first responders, people dealing with addiction, and others with post-traumatic growth. Dr. Mikal-Flynn's story--and her work--are models of courage and resilience.
In this episode:

• Describing the actual event (01:58)
• What happened (medically)? (03:47)
• Waking up in the hospital the first time, and the impact on her kids (09:15)
• Beginning to rehab her body, and her brain (13:19)
• Processing, making sense of (even finding positives in) the experience (17:07)
• Learnings about post-traumatic growth (18:30)
• Coming to appreciate "the little things" (21:49)
• Describing metahabilitation and the steps involved (25:49)

Want to know more about Dr. Joyce Mikal-Flynn?

• Find out about the upcoming conference: https://www.csus.edu/hhs/ptg-conference
• Check out her website: drjmf.com
• Follow her on Instagram: @dr.jmf
• Find her on Facebook: facebook.com/dr.jmf
• Shop at their store: mkt.com/metahab
• Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1642937274

Want to know more about "What It's Like To..."?

• Sign up to be on our Insiders' List to receive our newsletters and insiders' information! Go to whatitsliketo.net (sign-ups are at the bottom of the page)
• Follow us on social media:
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Support the show