A British woman who was hiking with her husband in Barcelona has survived one of the longest cardiac arrests ever recorded.

34-year-old Audrey Schoeman was hiking in the Catalan Pyrenees, when she was struck with hypothermia following a drop in temperature due to a snowstorm. Her husband, Rohan, quickly called emergency services as she passed out. Schoeman was taken to Vall d’Hebron Hospital.

“I thought she was dead,” Rohan said in an interview with local broadcaster TV3. “I was trying to feel for a pulse… I couldn’t feel a breath, I couldn’t feel a heartbeat.”

Doctor Jordi Riera was part of the team that treated her. Riera explains that the human brain usually suffers irreparable damage if the heart stops beating for five minutes, however Schoeman was in cardiac arrest for six-hours. It was an extremely rare case for her to survive.

Schoeman survived with a perfect neurological outcome because the extreme drop in body temperature that stopped her heart also slowed her brain metabolism, allowing the organ to cope better with the lack of oxygen. Her body temperature had dropped to 64.4 Fahrenheit.

“If she had been in cardiac arrest for this long at a normal body temperature, she would be dead. It’s an exceptional case in the world,” another medical team member, Dr. Eduard Argudo, said.

Audrey was released from hospital 12 days after being admitted and has since made a full recovery.

“As a scientist I don’t like the word but it’s like a miracle,” Riera said.

Schoeman expressed her gratitude to the medical team and told TV3 that she is keen to carry on her life as normal.