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First 'Bachelorette,' Trista Sutter, suffers seizure on family vacation

After waking up in a Croatian hospital covered in electrodes, Trista Sutter said she realized, "I have an expiration date."
/ Source: TODAY

Trista Sutter, the first star of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” had a brush with death on Thursday while on a family vacation in Europe.

She shared the ordeal on Instagram, with a grim-looking selfie, taken from a hospital bed in Croatia.

“This was me yesterday ... two hours after I had a seizure,” she posted Friday night, local time. “...two hours after I fell on my daughter's chest & she watched, along with her brother & grandparents, in confusion & horror as her mommy stared blankly off into the distance & started turning blue.”

The family had been preparing for an adventure at “one of the most beautiful National Parks in Europe.” After collapsing suddenly, she was shaken out of “a euphoric white dream” by the voices of her husband, Ryan Sutter (the 2004 “Bachelorette” contestant she married), and her 8-year-old daughter, Blakesley Grace.

“I ended up in a Croatian hospital being poked and prodded and wondering ‘why me?’ But today, I had to ask, ‘why not me?’” she wrote. "I have an expiration date.”

While the 44-year-old mother of two, (she also has a 9-year-old son, Max) said she didn’t expect that date to come so soon, she was "reminded yesterday that it could come anytime, in any country, whether I’m surrounded by strangers or people I love, or neither, or both.”

She urged her Instagram followers to cherish the joyful moments in life.

“I vow to try my best to live this life to the fullest,” she wrote. “To listen, be kind ... To be a better version of myself as a wife, mother, sister, cousin, niece, aunt, neighbor, daughter, and friend.”

Just hours prior to her posting, Ryan Sutter shared photos of himself with his son climbing rocks along a seaside. “Whilst at the beach, Mountain Men find rocks.... Ahhh, That's better,” he wrote. (The family lives in Vail, Colorado.)

In her inspirational message, Trista Sutter thanked all who helped her after the seizure, adding a touching tribute to her husband Ryan, "Without you, I don't know that I would be here today. You are my everything and I love you forevermore.”

Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars event
Ryan Sutter an Trista Sutter attend the Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars event at Catch Rooftop on May 29, 2014 in New York City.Chance Yeh / FilmMagic

The Sutters, who wed in late 2003, are the longest-surviving marriage to emerge from "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" franchise. Formerly known as Trista Rehm, the TV star was rejected in the first season of "The Bachelor" by Alex Michel, and was then offered to star on the new spinoff, "The Bachelorette."

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