Velma Thomas had been clinically brain dead for 17 hours when a miracle happened. The 59-year-old mother of two suffered a heart attack at her West Virginia home in 2008. Doctors at the Charleston Area Medical Centre fought in vain to bring her back. After her heart stopped three times and medics could no longer detect brain activity, she was declared dead. Family and friends said their goodbyes. Her son Tim told news reports: 'Her skin had already started hardening, her hands and toes were curling up – there was no life there.' The grieving family left the hospital and began planning her funeral.
How a Donor Registry Led to a Revival
Velma, a registered organ donor, was kept on a ventilator after signs of life ceased so arrangements could be made to harvest her organs. Ironically, this enabled her return. Ten minutes after the ventilator was turned off, she moved her arm, coughed, and asked for her son. The family believed it was a miracle. In reality, Velma experienced Lazarus Syndrome, also known as Lazarus phenomenon or autoresuscitation – a medical event where a person's heart spontaneously restarts after being officially pronounced dead. It is named after the biblical Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead after four days.
The Science Behind Spontaneous Revival
Dr. Hugh Coyne, who runs Coyne Medical, says Lazarus syndrome is extremely rare, with around 70 known cases worldwide. He warns more may occur without being reported. 'It perhaps might not be disclosed quite as often as it occurs because of legal and ethical sensitivities,' Dr. Coyne told Metro. While he has not witnessed it firsthand, he explains possible causes: changes in pressure in the chest, delayed effects of drugs like adrenaline, or shifts in potassium and acid balance in the blood. This is why medics continue to monitor individuals after death.
'One of the key roles of a doctor is declaring a patient dead, which is one of the sadder things about the profession, but one we approach with great dignity and respect for the patient and thoughtfulness for the family,' he explains. After time of death is called, doctors check vital signs: pulse, heartbeat, and pupillary response. 'We also listen for evidence of the heartbeat and breath sounds with the stethoscope. It is quite a thorough check to make sure that the patient is deceased. And clinicians will remain around the patient afterwards.'
Survival Odds and Neurological Outcomes
Even if a patient's heart restarts, survival is low. 'For people who have experienced Lazarus Syndrome overall survival is about 30% and only about 15% would have a normal neurological outcome, and as you'd expect, those would be people who are younger,' explains Dr. Coyne. So should we worry about being falsely declared dead? Not necessarily. The resuscitation process is long, rigorously controlled, and monitored. For older patients with many medical conditions, prolonged attempts are not best. But for young cardiac arrest patients with good survival chances, teams keep trying as long as needed.
Even after death is declared, doctors and nurses continue to care for the patient. 'If there are drips in their arm, for example, those will be carefully taken out. People aren't just left there, we still have an obligation to care for the patients, even after they're deceased,' Dr. Coyne says.
Other Remarkable Cases of Returning from the Dead
Velma Thomas did not make it to the morgue that day. She lived another 15 years, passing away in 2024 at age 76. Other cases include Judith Johnson, who was found breathing by a morgue worker in 2008 after being declared dead at a Delaware hospital. Timesha Beauchamp, 20, was pronounced dead in September 2020 after paramedics failed to revive her; funeral home workers found her gasping for air, but she died weeks later. An 88-year-old Czech woman declared dead last year was found alive by morticians as she was being placed in a coffin. A 65-year-old Japanese man declared dead in 2002 moved in the mortuary 20 minutes later. In Mexico, mourners saw the glass lid of three-year-old Camila Roxana Martinez Mendoza's coffin fog up; her grandmother saw her eyes moving and a faint pulse, but first responders could not save her.
