A growing collection of cardiac arrest books: survivor and co-survivor memoirs, guides to living with an ICD, and books on trauma, recovery and resuscitation. Several are written by members of our own community.
Each entry links to where you can buy it. If you know of a title that belongs here, or you have written one yourself, please let us know.
Writing your own story
Reading other people’s accounts often prompts people to write their own, and that is worth doing. Expressive writing, the practice of writing honestly about a difficult experience for a short period over several days, has a solid evidence base behind it. Many people in our community have found that putting their cardiac arrest into words was the point at which it began to make sense.
It helps other people too. Survivors and co-survivors often say the most useful thing they read in the early weeks was an account by someone a little further along the same road. Your version of events, whether it becomes a post in the group, a blog entry, or eventually a book on this page, may be exactly what someone else needs to read.
Books by our own community
Both volumes were written by members of the SCA UK community, collecting survivor and co-survivor writings first shared in our Facebook group or on this blog. 100% of royalties from both volumes go to SCA UK.
A collection of survivor and co-survivor writings from the SCA UK community, presented in the order they were first shared.
The second collection of community writings from SCA UK members, sharing their cardiac arrest journeys.
Books from lived experience
Titles by survivors, co-survivors and clinicians writing about cardiac arrest, found via Amazon. Listing a book here isn’t an endorsement of its contents; the order reshuffles each time the page loads, so nobody’s book sits permanently at the top. Each cover links to the book’s Amazon page. If you know of a book that’s missing and would suit this library, please let us know via our contact page.
A Real Princess Wears VelcroA memoir of resilience through chaos, unconditional love and the messy, unpredictable business of surviving.
What, Why, How? The Story of a Cardiac Arrest SurvivorAfter surviving multiple cardiac arrests, the author explores what happened, why, and how he survived.
Heart of the MatterA newlywed’s heart stops without warning: a memoir of grief, healing and turning trauma into change.
Hard Wired: Life, Death and TriathlonOne of Australia’s fiercest triathletes, her relentless pursuit of excellence, and the arrest that nearly ended it.
No Laughing MatterAn upbeat, short account of survival against extraordinary odds, and finding reasons to laugh again.
Marc The InvincibleA mother’s account of her son’s cardiac arrest and his fight to recover from anoxic brain damage.
To Live and Die in AmericaA surgeon’s 30 minutes without a heartbeat, and a case for better SCA survival policy in America.
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to KnowThe explorer’s autobiography, including his own brush with cardiac arrest.
1 in 10 SurvivorOne of the one-in-ten who lived: the impact of SCA on Alan and his family, and a further diagnosis of HCM.
There Is No Meatloaf in the AfterlifeDying twice in the ambulance, and what the author found on “the other side”.
CLEAR!: Living the Life You Didn’t Dream OfA surgeon-in-training collapses on the basketball court, and has to rebuild his dream from nothing.
The Heart of a WomanA cardiac arrest and “widow maker” heart attack at 70, and how stress shapes women’s heart health.
Harmonicas Round my HatA memoir of starting over at 62, leaving job and home behind for a life-changing new chapter.
Sudden Death: God’s OvertimeClinically dead after a workplace cardiac arrest, revived against the odds: a story of faith and recovery.
A Heart Too Good to DieA family’s story of cardiac arrest and its aftermath, and a window into life after SCA.
Cross My Heart and Hope to LiveCollapsing live on television, and the essays that followed: one of the few resuscitated without brain damage.
Love Like There’s No TomorrowA work-at-home mother of four, overwhelmed and stressed, until cardiac arrest at 42 changed everything.
“When You Died…”Driving home from a concert with his daughter when death found him, and the roadside heroism that brought him back.
Heart Attack, Yak, YakA candid, wry account of cardiac arrest, written through the haze of pain medication and beta-blockers.
From Cardiac Arrest to Canadian AdventureA former lorry driver’s heart attack opens up a whole new world, from Scotland to Toronto.
The Silent HeartA road map of the physical and emotional obstacles in the ten months following a heart attack and cardiac arrest.
The Day I ForgotSudden cardiac arrest mid-race, and the posttraumatic stress and cognitive challenges that followed.
How Cayenne Pepper Saved My LifeA personal survival story following a sudden, unexpected cardiac arrest.
You Only Live ThriceA comic yet brutally honest account of surviving cardiac arrest, and why perspective is a superpower.
Back from the Dead and Back in the GameCardiac arrest during a charity walking football game, and the survivor’s return to life and to the pitch.
But I Didn’t Know I Was Dead!A normal life, then a sudden cardiac arrest in the early hours, and the strange aftermath that followed.
Suffering: The Heart of the MatterA husband’s account of his wife’s sudden cardiac arrest, and the questions of faith it raised for their family.
In A HeartbeatFar from home, in intensive care, in the midst of a life-or-death situation: a co-survivor’s account.
A Community of MortalsA wife’s exploration of death and survival after her husband is pronounced clinically dead.
I’m Still HereA devastating diagnosis, the refusal to die, and using trauma as motivation for a better life.
Never The Same Man: A Survivor’s StoryA conversation between father and son about recovery after cardiac arrest, told partly through poetry, with the lay rescuers and family in view throughout.
Hear our podcast with the authorsFiction
Novels written by survivors, or with cardiac arrest at the heart of the story.
This, My Second LifeA mystery novel by a cardiac arrest survivor, following a young survivor’s recovery on his uncle’s coastal farm in Cornwall.
Hear our podcast with the author
How to Save a LifeA novel: minutes before midnight, Joel collapses, and Kerry saves his life. A love story that starts when a heart stops.
Guides and reference
Books written to explain rather than to recount, covering cardiac arrest, defibrillators and what happens next.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest: The Biggest Killer of Them AllA guide for survivors, caregivers, family and friends, setting SCA’s global toll in context.
Back In a Heart BeatA myth-busting guide to sudden cardiac arrest and defibrillators, making the case for wider public AED use.