7 Things I Learned from Dying and Getting a Second Chance

Jellis Vaes

On 19th February 2021, I had a sudden cardiac arrest and died while I was asleep. I was 28 years old. Thanks to the quick thinking of my girlfriend and the paramedics showing up within minutes, my heart started pumping again. And now I’ve been given a second chance at life.

Even though I have stayed quite positive and optimistic throughout this journey, it has been rough, with many ups and downs.

Many thoughts and insights about life and death have occupied my mind in the last year and a half since my cardiac arrest. Here in this video, I share a few of these thoughts that I think are worth sharing.

Books, websites, and other resources mentioned in this video:

• The IPS Project: This is an educational platform on life that I founded. It provides education on topics we learn little to nothing about while growing up, such as mental health, relationships, the mind, the body and brain, and money.
• The Heart Warrior Project: This is a new project I started that offers emotional support to other cardiac arrest survivors through interviews with fellow survivors, cardiologists, and articles to improve your quality of life after surviving a cardiac arrest.
• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl: This is the book I talked about. Highly worth a read, especially if you are currently going through hardships.
• How to Help Someone Who Is Suicidal: This is the video where I share more about the suicidal thoughts I struggled with for 6 years and why they came to be.