1923 actress was legally dead for three minutes while battling COVID-19 in December 2019, and she’s telling her story.
“I didn’t see the light or a tunnel but they say it can come back to you in flashbacks,” Vasinova, 42, who is slated to appear in the upcoming Yellowstone spinoff The Madison, told People in an interview published on Thursday, December 19.
She continued, “I did, however, start to see a lot of angel numbers everywhere. I would see sequences like 5555, 7777. It was bizarre, but something was telling me, ‘There’s something more for you. You weren’t meant to go just yet. You’re meant to do something else.'”
Vasinova recalled thinking she had the flu when she visited an urgent care facility in downtown Los Angeles.
“They decided it was strep and sent me home with some antibiotics. But by the next day, I could barely walk. My legs wouldn’t move. It was bizarre,” she said.
By the time Vasinova’s uncle rushed her to the emergency room at 2 a.m., she felt like she was “going to die.” Her heart stopped beating for three full minutes. An ER nurse made repeated attempts to revive her, and eventually found a pulse. Vasinova was then put into an induced coma.
“I had complete organ failure,” she explained. “I went from young and healthy to this infection that completely took over my body all of a sudden. It just came on, and it just rocked my world.”
Surviving the near-death experience left Vasinova feeling “so much more connected” to life.
“It’s hard to even describe how I feel,” she said. “This felt like the turning point in my life. The death, and the rebirth. I know to take nothing for granted. Life is so precious and it is such a gift. We’re here to do some good in the world, to be of service, and to be forever grateful.”
Vasinova got the opportunity to directly thank the ER nurse who successfully resuscitated her.
“I found out her name was Ruby, so I went back to the hospital with a bracelet with a tiny ruby in it just to say, ‘Thank you for saving my life,’” she said. “I didn’t know if she was going to recognize me, but when she opened the door, I started crying, and she just lost it. She told me she never knows who lives or dies after they get transferred. She just gave me the biggest hug. Because I’d been gone for three full minutes. But I came back.”
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With the health scare behind her, Vasinova is looking toward the future. She took to Instagram on Tuesday, December 17, to share her excitement about joining the cast of The Madison, which is currently in production and expected to premiere in 2025.
“So proud to be joining this tremendous cast and truly special project. big thanks to [Yellowstone cocreator] [] for everything & for welcoming me into the @yellowstone family,” she wrote.
Vasinova will play Kestrel, “an indigenous woman married to a Montana rancher who lives with her family on a double-wide trailer on their ranch,” per Variety.
