Arizona family almost suffered tragedy right after girl was born

PHOENIX - An Arizona family was celebrating the birth of their new baby girl when suddenly, things took a frightening turn.

The mother, Emily Christison, was giving birth to a healthy baby girl at Abrazo Arrowhead Hospital when celebration almost turned into tragedy for her family.

"A flood of emotion. We just held each other and cried because we couldn't believe what we had just been through," said Emily.

Just hours after delivering her healthy baby girl, Christison noticed that her husband, Justin, didn't look well.

"He looked at me and said ‘I gotta go,’ so he went down to the emergency room," said Emily.

25 minutes later, a nurse delivered some bad news, as well as good news.

"A nurse was upstairs telling me he had a heart attack, and had a stent placed in his heart," said Emily.

Justin had a widowmaker heart attack, with a 99% blockage of an artery.

According to the Cleveland Clinic's website, a widowmaker heart attack involves a full blockage of the heart's biggest artery, the left anterior descending (LAD) artery.

"A widowmaker heart attack is immediately life-threatening. This is because the LAD provides about 50% of your heart muscle’s blood supply," read a portion of the Cleveland Clinic's website.

Justin was rushed into surgery, and was quickly treated by a doctor named Nishant Gupta.

"Confused at first, and my mind went from ‘OK, I have a baby’ to 'OK, who do I have to call to make sure everybody's taken care of"'" Emily recounted.

Emily said Justin visited his new daughter as soon as he could post-surgery.

"I was very overhwelmed," said Emily. "A lot of crying, but once I knew he was fine, things kind of calmed down."

With Mother's Day fast approaching, the Christison family has a lot to celebrate. They're just grateful they can celebrate many more milestones together.

"So thankful he's able to be here," said Emily. "I couldn't imagine doing Mother's Day without him. It would be very different. I couldn't even think about what it would be like if he wasn't here."

As for Justin, he has returned to work.