JENNY MCCARTHY - MCCARTHY RECALLS DAY HER AUTISTIC SON'S HEART STOPPED

Actress JENNY MCCARTHY fought back tears on U.S. TV on Tuesday (18Sep07) as she went public about the day her autistic son EVAN's heart stopped. The former model recalled the horror of thinking her then-two-year-old boy was dying during an emotional appearance on the Oprah show. MCCarthy and her son were visiting her parents when the tot's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he started foaming at the mouth. She remembered, "I put my hand on him and I kept saying, 'Stay with me.' I felt like he was going. And after a few moments I felt his heart stop." The paramedics had been called and they walked in just as the actress felt her son had died. She added, "I said, 'I think his heart just stopped,' and they actually looked at me like I was crazy... They casually came walking over, did their tests and confirmed I was right and immediately started CPR." But in her most desperate moment, MCCarthy admitted a calming inner voice reassured her that her son would be alright. She explained, "At that very moment... I remember thinking, 'Why..? Why God, why me..?' and then I heard this voice: 'Everything is going to be OK.'" The paramedics revived the little boy, but MCCarthy's nightmare wasn't over - the local hospital couldn't take her son, so she had to drive three hours back to Los Angeles, while Evan suffered several other seizures. The angry mum was then told that her son was epileptic and the boy was discharged two days later, but she knew it was something else. MCCarthy found a good neurologist, who dropped the bombshell: "He shut his office door and he sat down and he put his hand on my knee and he said, 'I'm sorry but your son has autism.' "I didn't want to believe him but I couldn't help my instincts saying, 'This man is right, so listen to what he's saying.' "I felt like death and he said, 'Hey, don't forget this is the same little boy you came in this room with; he's not any different.' "But I did happen to say, 'I believe my son is trapped inside, I'm not settling for this... I'm gonna get him out.' And that started the journey." MCCarthy, who showed home video of Evan's birth during the show, has spent the past three years learning more about her son's mysterious spectrum disorder, and has now written a new book, Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism, to help other parents discover more about autism.