Hilton woman reunites with RRH staff who saved her life during cardiac emergency

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) – Sydney Pelusio is a walking miracle.

“It’s still very surreal that I’m here, that this even happened,” she said.

Eight months ago, Sydney, a wife and mother from Hilton, went to the emergency room with flu-like symptoms but was quickly sent to Unity Hospital.

“She went into cardiac arrest shortly after arriving,” explained Dr. Cameron Hall, interventional cardiologist and director of ECMO at Rochester Regional Health. “Thanks to the quick response and coordination of our team, we were able to retake Sydney.”

Hall implanted a device to keep her heart beating, but knew Sydney needed a higher level of care and rode with her by ambulance to Rochester General Hospital.

“She was put on ECMO, which is a life-sustaining therapy that we offer at RGH,” Hall said. “Through this we have been able to stabilize Sydney and prevent the situation from deteriorating further, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”

Dr Amanda Coniglio happened to be on duty in the cardiology department at RGH when Sydney was brought in.

“We put her on immunosuppressants to treat her condition and immediately began evaluation for a heart transplant, fearing that it would be her only option for survival—but we were wrong,” she recalls.

While waiting for a new heart, Sydney’s condition began to improve and she was eventually able to come off the transplant list.

“After a miraculous turn of events and being taken off life support, my journey to recovery began,” Sidney said. “I had a few weeks of recovery ahead of me where I basically had to learn how to walk again and rebuild the muscles that had deteriorated.”

The recovery process was not easy. But Sydney said she is alive today thanks to her entire care team.

“You didn’t just save my life. You gave me more time with my children and family,” she said. “More chances to laugh, love, live and even cry. I will always be grateful for that.”

Sydney is now looking to the future and training for a half marathon in February.

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