A 21-year-old woman has regular brushes with death and in one year was pronounced clinically dead 36 times.

Sara Brautigam was four years ago diagnosed with Postural orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS), a condition which makes her heart race while standing upright.

She experiences rapid palpitations that regularly cause her heart to stop beating and her blood pressure to plummet to what doctors record as clinically dead.

Ms Brautigam said that she has contacted other people with the same condition, but none of those people's hearts have stopped

'They can't give me CPR because CPR tires the heart out for no reason so it is pointless. When the heart fills up with blood again is when it begins beating again.

'The blood tends to pool in my legs and the doors need to help feed it back to the heart.'

'I can't have oxygen because it prolongs the attack.

'In fact it is just a case of leaving me there and praying. The only thing they can do is put me on a drip,' she added.

Ms Brautigam, from Doncaster, said each time her heart stops medics have to inflict pain on her to shock her into coming back to life.

She said: 'When it happens paramedics try and do anything to inflict pain to try and shock me into coming back to life.

Ms Brautigam lies in a hospital bed after undergoing one of her regular episodes caused by her heart condition

WHAT IS PoT SYNDROME? Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) can be a life altering and debilitating chronic health condition. Simply standing up can be a challenge for people with PoTS as their body is unable to adjust to gravity. PoTS is characterised by what's known as orthostatic intolerance - the development of symptoms when upright that are relieved by lying down. Symptoms include headaches, fatigue, palpitations, sweating, nausea, fainting and dizziness. They are associated with an increase in heart rate from the lying to upright position of greater than 30 beats per minute, or a heart rate of greater than 120 beats per minute within 10 minutes of standing. For more information: http://www.potsuk.org/ Advertisement

'A lot of the time I'll wake up with big bruises. On one occasion they ripped an acrylic nail off but that still didn't make me flinch.'

Ms Brautigam said that she has contacted people with PoTS, but none of those people's hearts have stopped.

She also suffers joint hypermobility syndrome which means her joints are more prone to injury and dislocation.

The two combined resulted in her visiting A&E a staggering 64 times in one year.

'When I was still canoeing I had an attack in my boat and when I came around I was screaming before I knew it because I had somehow dislocated my shoulder and damaged my back while I was passed out.'

But Ms Brautigam - who has canoed for Great Britain - says she is determined not to let the conditions hold her back and is now trying to make a life as a burlesque performer.

She said: 'There are signs before it happens - I'll feel dizzy or sick and really tired and then I feel as though I'm falling asleep.I can hear everything around me and feel as though I'm trying to shout but nothing is coming out.

'They say when you die your hearing is the last thing to go and that's been my experience. After an attack I'll wake up and my chest will be killing and I'm really tired.

'I get asked it quite a lot, but there is definitely no bright light. Everything just goes black.

'You can still hear things and there is a voice in my head that is still active and still conscious and it is trying to communicate with those around me. I can remember what people are saying when I black out but have no other awareness of what's going on.'

She was told she could no longer take part in the sport and her dreams of joining the Navy were also left in tatters. Even getting a job and and driving were affected by the condition.

She added: 'I had 10 years of being out every weekend canoeing and being so active and it all came crashing down. I piled on the weight because I couldn't exercise and was really upset.

'All my dreams came crashing down, I can't even work at the minute because I would need a job that could be very flexible. Then I was told I couldn't drive, it was like everything was being taken away from me.