Stephanie Arnold has always followed her gut instinct. It helped her survive and thrive in the television industry for 27 years, producing and directing television shows like the US Hispanic version of “Deal or No Deal,” a music video starring Julio Iglesias, and the New York Magazine Awards show. Her shows garnered several nominations including Emmys and Premio Lo Nuestros.
It was that gut instinct that also helped her take charge and survive the birth of her second child. For months before her delivery date, Stephanie had premonitions that she would die as soon as her son Jacob was born. On May 30th, 2013, Stephanie suffered an amniotic fluid embolism (AFE), a rare and poorly understood condition that caused her body to go into anaphylactic shock and hemorrhage. She had acute organ failure and literally died for 37 Seconds before doctors were able to restart her heart and stabilize her. After a series of surgeries, blood transfusions three times her blood supply, a medically induced coma and kidney dialysis, the doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital called Stephanie’s survival a miracle, and said she survived because she had a team in place that was prepared. She agrees, but the doctors will tell you they were prepared because Stephanie prepared them. And Stephanie will also tell you when she thought no one was listening, someone actually was.
