A BINGO worker who had no pulse for almost an hour after suffering a massive heart attack says her late husband visited her and said “it’s not your time.”

    Sonia Burton was “dead” for 56 minutes following her heart attack at the bingo hall in Ashington, Northumberland, U.K., but paramedics refused to give up on her.

    The mom-of-four said, “The only thing I remember is my late husband coming to me and saying ‘it’s not your time, Sonia, go back to the children.’ Then I woke up in hospital.’”

    On Tuesday, Sonia described herself as a “living miracle” as she was reunited with the paramedics who brought her back to life.

    “Every day I think how incredible it is that I’m still here,” she said. “I don’t take anything for granted.”

    On the day of her heart attack, Sonia had gone about her daily tasks with daughter Rebecca, 30.

    She had been due to start work at Gala Bingo Hall in Ashington at 5:30 p.m. but went in early at 4:45 p.m. to talk to colleagues and have a coffee.

    The 50-year-old said, “I mainly work in the dining area and had been heading out of there when I remember getting a pain in my chest and then collapsing.”

    Out cold, Sonia’s frantic boss Karen Arkle began trying to resuscitate her as an ambulance was called.

    Within four minutes, paramedic Jason Riches and emergency care assistant Gary French were on the scene, taking over CPR from Karen.

    They were then backed up by paramedic Stephen Eke and first year student paramedic Rosie Priest.

    For the next 56 minutes the team worked to save Sonia as she was transported to Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington.

    It was while they were trying to save her that Sonia said she got a message from late husband John, who died in 2004 following a heart attack aged just 37.

    “I spoke to him and he told me that it was not my time and I should go back,” she said. “To be honest, it felt very comforting.”

    By the time they arrived at Cramlington hospital, Sonia was still unconscious but had started breathing.

    She was then transferred to Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, where she underwent lifesaving surgery to have a stent fitted in her heart.

    Eight days later she was back home, being cared for by brother, Mark, and her four children, Michael, 31, Megan, 22, Rebecca and 19-year-old Thomas.

    “It’s strange to think I was technically dead for an hour,” added Sonia. “If it wasn’t for the guys being there so quickly and not giving up on me, it would have been a very different story.

    “My mind is a bit forgetful and I’m on a lot of medication but otherwise I’m doing really well — and, at the end of the day, I’m still here.”(SD-Agencies)