A life or death episode
How the show Friends saved Emma Martin's life.
"My mother was pregnant with me and as she approached her due date, the doctor said to come to the hospital on x day at x time," she writes. Emma's mum asked if she could check into the hospital a couple of hours early - she wanted to be settled in so she could watch Friends. The doctors humorously agreed. When her due date arrived her mum checked into the hospital for her induction, a little earlier than expected. "She gets hooked up to the monitors ... the 'swish swish' of my heartbeat can be heard in the background. The Friends theme-song played shortly after, all was right in the world.
"So no one told you life was gonna be this way" ... swish swish ... your job's a joke you're broke" ... swish swish ... "your love life's DOAAAAA" ... the swishing stops ... mother notices, nurse notices. The next two minutes were a blur ... Just like in the movies nurses and doctors flooded into the room ... an emergency C-Section takes place at the speed of light. I was pulled from the womb with all five fingers tightly wrapped around my umbilical cord. I cut my own circulation off, almost killing my unborn self. What a dork! Had my mother not asked to go into the hospital a few hours early to catch Friends, she would've been at home when my heart stopped beating. No doctors, no medical equipment. I would've died."
