She flatlined three times, lost both legs and had a failing heart. Yet she told doctors she’s ‘the luckiest person on this planet’

She flatlined three times, lost both legs and had a failing heart. Yet she told doctors she’s ‘the luckiest person on this planet’ By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Published 9:08 AM EST, Sun March 5, 2023 CNN — Her smile is bright, cheery, sometimes goofy and always contagious. But pictures can’t completely capture her upbeat, positive vibe. At 21, Claire Bridges has a mature spirit that amazes those who love her as well as the doctors who had to operate on her heart and remove both legs to save her li laire Bridges with her father, Wayne Bridges. She had both legs amputated after complications with Covid-19. Courtesy Claire Bridges “She had a will to live, perseverance and a sort of twinkle in her eye — I tell all my patients that’s half the battle,” said Dr. Dean Arnaoutakis, a vascular surgeon at the University of South Florida Health in Tampa who amputated Bridges’ legs after complications from Covid-19. “Most people would be despondent and feel like life had cheated them,” said Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy, a professor of cardiovascular surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, who operated on Bridges’ heart. “But she told me, ‘I feel like I’m the luckiest person on this planet. I have my whole life ahead of me. I can have kids, a future, so many things to look forward to.’ “There was not once that I looked into her eyes that I didn’t feel her positiveness was true and genuine,” he said. “Claire’s story is one of just incredible resilience