Shane McCaskey knew his wife, Kristin, had a family history of heart disease, but he never imagined it could affect her at only 24 years old.
But that's what happened to Kristin, who was 32 weeks pregnant with twins, on Christmas Day 2009.
"I kind of lost my breath and started having pain in my left arm," said Kristin.
That's when Kristin's family realized she was having a heart attack and rushed her to St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Youngstown.
Dr. David Jackson, emergency room physician, said Kristin went into cardiac arrest. But before she could undergo triple bypass surgery, doctors had to deliver her twin girls by Caesarian section.
"At that point, I called the intensive care unit and asked for extra nurses and respiratory therapists to come to the emergency room because we would need extra hands to take care of two premature babies," said Dr. Carrie Cannon, neonatologist. "And (we) made the decision to deliver the babies in the emergency room."
Makeylah and Elizabeth spent a few weeks in the hospital but are now recovering at home in Girard with their parents and big brother, Jordan.
Doctors said knowledge of Kristin's family history of heart disease was crucial to her survival.
"It was in her mind and in her family's mind that this could be a heart attack," said Jackson. "Whereas most 24-year-old women aren't thinking that. So, that probably saved her life right there."
The doctors at St. Elizabeth's said they've seen no documented survival story like Kristin's and her twins'. In similar cases, the situation is fatal.
Kristin and her twin girls are on a defibrillator to monitor their hearts and continue to be seen by their cardiologist.
"I almost didn't make it," said Kristin.
