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In this undated photo, Maggie Soward is pictured with family in the hospital after surviving a cardiac event she experienced Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024.

Courtesy Scott Soward

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EMTs respond to a Saratoga Springs home Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, after Maggie Soward suffered cardiac arrest.

Courtesy Scott Soward

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The Saratoga Springs Fire Department is pictured with the Soward family in this undated photo.

Courtesy Saratoga Springs Fire and Rescue

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In this undated photo, Maggie Soward reads a card given to her by loved ones as she recovers from a cardiac arrest event she experienced Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024.

Courtesy Scott Soward

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In this undated photo, EMTs present Eliza Soward, middle, with a plaque for helping to save the life of her mother, Maggie, on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024.

Courtesy Saratoga Springs Fire and Rescue

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This undated photo shows Maggie Soward as she recovers from a cardiac arrest event she experienced Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024.

Courtesy Scott Soward

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Thanksgiving 2024 is a day that the Soward family of Saratoga Springs will never forget.

On Nov. 28, just before 12:30 p.m., Maggie Soward and her husband Scott were in their kitchen’s pantry, when she suddenly collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. What followed would be a test of the family’s strength, togetherness and faith, as they faced a life-altering emergency that resulted in a miraculous recovery.

“We were in the pantry, and that’s when she collapsed on my left shoe,” Scott Soward recalled. “And in hindsight, it’s very significant that she fell on my shoe, in my mind, because otherwise I could have walked out of the pantry; and in these cases, seconds matter.”

Initially, Scott thought Maggie had passed out, but as he tried to get her up, he quickly realized that she wasn’t breathing.

Scott said he rolled Maggie’s body over. Her eyes were shut and her face was gray.

“Dread and panic shot through me as I desperately tried to wake her up and began to shout her name,” he said.

Scott tried to resuscitate Maggie, but then he remembered that his 17-year-old daughter Eliza had just received her third round of CPR training at MTECH in Lehi, just days prior to the emergency.

One of the Soward’s sons, Ike, called 911. The other, Noah, called Eliza down from the second floor of the home. She hurried to her mother’s aid and immediately started performing chest compressions.

“I was being yelled at that my mom needed CPR by my brother, and I couldn’t really understand what he was saying, so I was trying to find her,” Eliza explained. “And then I eventually got in there (and) looked at her because she was already flipped over. I could tell that she was dead because she was gray and didn’t have any color and stuff.”

But Eliza was able to put the critical life-saving skills she’d learned to use until first responders arrived.

“Emergency medical personnel worked to resuscitate Maggie for approximately 25 minutes before a pulse and breathing were regained,” Saratoga Springs Fire and Rescue said in a social media post Tuesday.

Maggie was transported to Holy Cross – Mountain Point Hospital in Lehi, where she was placed on a ventilator.

“At that point, our biggest fear was brain damage from lack of blood to the brain during Maggie’s time in the pantry,” Scott said.

Though responders were able to get her breathing again, Maggie didn’t wake up from her coma until the next day, he added.

As Maggie slowly began to progress in the hospital, family and friends came to see her, offering support and prayers.

While in Lehi, Maggie’s memory began to return, but doctors found that the apex of her heart wasn’t functioning properly, causing atrial fibrillation, which is a common type of irregular heart rhythm.

She was transferred to St. Marks Hospital in Salt Lake City for a surgery to help regulate her heart.

After a week between both facilities, Maggie had miraculously survived the life-threatening episode without brain damage, though she experienced memory loss and confusion from sedation while in medical care. She was discharged to go home on Dec. 4, 2024.

Seven months later, Maggie is feeling much better.

“I don’t know that I’ll ever feel 100% (again). I worry that I won’t. But I’m just happy to be here,” she said.

According to the American Red Cross, around 70% of all out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happen in the home, but the chances of survival are slim.

Scott noted that the medical team called it a “5% survival rate” for what Maggie experienced.

For Maggie, 46, the experience provides an answer for some recent health troubles. She said she had been an avid runner and enjoyed the outdoors, but at some point, the activity became daunting.

“I used to run every day, and then I just couldn’t run anymore,” she told the Daily Herald. “It was like torture, and I just would get shortness of breath and just be miserable.”

She initially thought her age may have been a factor, but in light of the emergency, she realized there was an underlying issue: Her heart wasn’t doing well.

Though long running adventures may be uncertain in the future, Maggie has found other ways to remain active.

“I mostly just walk and strength train now,” she said. “Like, we go hiking and stuff, and I definitely feel different than I did, you know, a couple years ago.”

Despite the trauma, the family felt deeply grateful, recognizing the experience and subsequent miracles has been a testament to their faith.

“I don’t want to say I’m grateful that it happened, but the ripple effect that has blessed our lives is immeasurable. It’s been really eye-opening, and I’m super proud of Eliza,” Maggie told the Daily Herald.

Last week, Saratoga Springs Fire and Rescue reconnected with the Soward family and awarded Eliza with a plaque for her efforts in saving her mother’s life that day.

“We are so grateful to Eliza for quickly recognizing and taking action to provide chest compressions on her mother. We attribute Maggie’s survival entirely to Eliza’s effort,” the agency said on social media.

The department went on to say, “we are glad to have provided our service and advanced life support abilities last Thanksgiving for the Soward family so they can continue enjoying future Thanksgivings and other holidays together!”

Thinking back on the incident, nearly a year ago, Eliza said the reality of what transpired didn’t fully settle in until later that evening.

“I think it hit me when I was laying in my bed,” she said. “I was like, ‘Wait. My mom’s not even home. Where’s my mom?’ And I feel like it was kind of some sort of like dread, because it hit me how serious the situation really was. But then I just felt hope, because everything did go good; (but) it was scary.”

Scott said he’s grateful that all of their children were at home and expressed gratitude to neighbors, loved ones and church members who showed unwavering compassion and support to the family during the emergency experience.

“I mean, it has not just brought the Soward family together, but it has brought our community together, and our neighbors and even our distant friends and family,” he said.

Scott said he believed it was something more than medicine or surgery that granted his wife more time on this earth.

“Each detail seems orchestrated by a loving God who knew what our family would need,” he wrote in a blog post.

Scott documented the incident and the process of Maggie’s recovery, which can be found at www.butdidyoudie.life.