A WOMAN who survived four heart attacks and a stroke during labour is finally back to full health and able to enjoy her baby twins.

George Cormack, 33, almost died after giving birth to her first twin when her heart stopped and she suffered a bilateral stroke.

Her second baby was not breathing when she was delivered but was brought back to life by a medical team at Colchester General Hospital.

Doctors placed her in an induced coma after she gave birth when it was discovered she had suffered an amniotic fluid embolism - a rare condition which effects about one in 20,000 women. Fluid which surrounds the baby or other debris enters the mother’s blood stream via the womb and triggers an allergic reaction.

When she finally woke up she faced more than three months battling back to health. Mrs Cormack even had to learn to speak again after the stroke effected the part of the brain which controls speech.

“When I should have been celebrating the happiest event of my life I was at a loss to know who I was, where I was, what I was doing there,” she said. “I was unable to understand all these strange noises people around me were making.”

Since the birth in June last year Mrs Cormack has slowly regained her health and through sheer determination and the help of her speech and language therapist, Alison Wren, she is now back in Great Tey settling down to motherhood with little Connie and Oscar.

“It’s been traumatic and I’ve been through every emotion imaginable these past ten months but, more than anything else, I feel lucky – lucky that I am here to tell the tale and so fortunate to have had Alison my speech therapist and her colleagues helping me every inch of the way.

“I cannot begin to stress how much work they have put into helping me recover. They are incredible unsung heroes.”

Mrs Cormack describes her recovery as waking up very slowly. She started with the basics like learning the alphabet and object recognition.

Mrs Wren said: “I would set George a week’s worth of therapy and she would have it done in a day. I’ve never known anyone so determined. I found it inspirational. It was one of the most severe strokes I have come across and for her to come back from that position to where she is today is quite amazing.”

Mrs Cormack added: “Without the help of a lot of people, I wouldn’t be telling this story now. The consultant who saved my life, and my daughters, whilst working with the crash team, the theatre staff, the midwives, the special care baby unit staff, the critical care unit who nursed me back to consciousness, the stroke unit and the neuro rehab teams.”

Mrs Cormack has settled back home with her husband Sean and is looking forward to going back to work in social care in the future.