Actress Danielle Vasinova, star of the hit “Yellowstone” spinoff “1923” and now “The Madison,” has a newfound gratitude for life, after nearly losing hers from COVID-19.
Back in December 2019, before the start of the widespread pandemic, Vasinova said she thought she was coming down with the flu and later discovered she was misdiagnosed.
With information still not readily available about the virus, doctors assumed she had a different type of infection.
“I went to urgent care in downtown L.A., and 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 recalled.
Comparing her experience to a scene out of a movie, Vasinova said her uncle raced her to the emergency room that night after she felt something genuinely was not right.
“He said people were running around me, and a tiny girl jumped on top of my chest and began pumping, pumping, pumping. And then he saw my heartbeat on the monitor just go. Flatlined,” she said.
The actress credits the ER nurse for saving her life, after her heart stopped for three full minutes. The nurse continued to try and revive her, before eventually finding a pulse.
“I had complete organ failure. 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,” she said.
After being legally deceased and essentially coming back to life, Vasinova was transferred to the intensive care unit of the hospital and placed in a medically induced coma.
Five years after the traumatic event, Vasinova says she’s thankful for surviving the experience and sometimes finds herself reflecting on death. She now feels drawn to a higher power and despite having no memory of dying, senses angels all around her.
“It’s hard to even describe how I feel, but I’m so much more connected. This felt like the turning point in my life,” she said.
“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.”
“The Madison” is the latest installment in the “Yellowstone” universe and is set to air in 2025. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer will headline the Taylor Sheridan project, with Vasinova one of the latest actors announced as joining the cast.
In a similar experience, Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino revealed in October that he too nearly died from COVID-19 in 2020. After developing a fever, the 84-year-old was found at home with no pulse before he regained consciousness surrounded by six paramedics and two doctors.
