Woman Wakes Up After Family Says Goodbye, Tubes Pulled

[IronLionZion]

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A West Virginia woman was being transferred to the Cleveland Clinic after walking the line between life and death.

Doctors are calling Val Thomas a medical miracle. They said they can't explain how she is alive.

They said Thomas suffered two heart attacks and had no brain waves for more than 17 hours. At about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, her heart stopped and she had no pulse. A respiratory machine kept her breathing and rigor mortis had set in, doctors said.

"Her skin had already started to harden and her fingers curled. Death had set in," said son Jim Thomas.

....

Ten minutes later the woman woke up and started talking.


http://www.newsnet5.com/health/16363548/detail.html

OMFG!!!

This is unfuknbelievable. They thought this woman was gone and were discussing organ donations. Then she woke up. You have to wonder about stuff like this.

[Hydra]

1. "Your application for death has been denied- try again later"

Things like this always make me wonder if such a thing DOES exist.

[aquart]

18. Now that I can believe.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. They Were using An Interesting New Technology

Cooling then warming after sudden cardiac arrest. It seems to be useful.

[roguevalley]

27. I think that technique saves organs, especially the brain. she must

have told them she wasn't going yet. bless her. I would love to talk to her in a few days and ask what she saw and heard. :)

[Uncle Joe]

3. I've heard of people coming back after being declared dead but not

after rigor mortis set in.

[Fox Mulder]

4. You really do have to wonder about stuff like that.

I agree.

It is unbelievable.

[boobooday]

5. Oh, sorry, changed my mind!

[FiveGoodMen]

6. "You have to wonder about stuff like this"

I have to wonder if it's true.

"rigor mortis had set in" -- How long after death does that normally occur?

According to Wiki: "Rigor mortis begins to manifest after about 3 hours after death"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigor_mortis

Think we're missing some details in this story.

[enlightenment]

7. Yes, like actual quotes from people with brains.

It was the family making those comments.

The only unbelievable thing about this article is the extremely bad reporting.

Edited to correct a faulty comment - apparently there was one actual quote from a physician.

[Uncle Joe]

11. I agree regarding the reporting this seems out of order to me

"They said Thomas suffered two heart attacks and had no brain waves for more than 17 hours. At about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, her heart stopped and she had no pulse. A respiratory machine kept her breathing and rigor mortis had set in, doctors said.

"Her skin had already started to harden and her fingers curled. Death had set in," said son Jim Thomas.

They rushed her to a West Virginia hospital. Doctors put Thomas on a special machine which induces hypothermia. The treatment involves lowering the body temperature for up to 24 hours before warming a patient up."

Why would they give her hypothermia treatment after rigor mortis set in?

[enlightenment]

13. Maybe the WV hospital is called Frankenstein Memorial?

I love the "removed all the tubes" bit. Yes, except for the VENT (and if they were talking organ donation, they still had an IV line in place).

And she WOKE UP and started TALKING - despite having that pesky vent tube down her throat! Now THAT is a miracle.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

15. Oh, please

Bodies don't start to deteriorate for several hours after death occurs.

Where was this?

Oh.

West Virginia.

Well, sure ....................

[IronLionZion]

14. Maybe it wasn't actually rigor mortis, but the muscles got stiff for some other reason

so they might have thought it was rigor mortis. :shrug:

[FiveGoodMen]

20. Maybe so, but the doctors should know better

At most they should be saying, "We thought rigor mortis had set in, but clearly we were wrong."

Anyway: Does rigor mortis ever set in while someone is still breathing (even on a ventilator)? You'd think Terri Schiavo would have been hard as concrete by the time she actually stopped breathing.

[elias7]

26. doctors do know better...

The inconsistencies are probably due to poor reporting.

As a physician, I rarely can stomach most articles about medical reporting, as the facts are often way off base. I expect anyone here with expertise in any field is often appalled or amused at the erroneous information that may be presented.

[mac2]

25. Or a post by the anti-right to die folks.

[ret5hd]

8. ...and I was going toward the light...

and I heard music...it seemed so familiar. I got closer and closer and realized it was polka music! Polka in heaven! And then this person, I believe he was an angel approached me, and said "This way, dear."
"Is there beer in heaven?", I asked.
"Oh no, dear, just O'Douls"
I decided to go home.

[PVnRT]

10. "I was going into the light, and a voice said, Take a number."

I love Albert Brooks.

[Dollface]

9. Makes me wonder about the doctors

[datasuspect]

12. god wasn't done with her yet

[keep_it_real]

16. She kicked death's ass

[datasuspect]

17. she made death her bitch

[hlthe2b]

19. Ob My GOD! I nearly split a rib over this thread title alone!

Can you IMAGINE? DAMN! :rofl:

*I mean no disrespect, but the dark humor elements and the implications are just too amazing not to find it a bit humorous in a very strange way*

[hootinholler]

21. I'm not dead yet!

Just lay down on the cart, you'll be stone dead in a minute.

No, I'm feeling much better.

-Hoot

[OhioChick]

22. I heard about that on the local news this a.m.

Purely amazing. I'm sure her family is ecstatic. It's nice to hear good stories once in a while. :)

[soothsayer]

23. I was just saying the other day how death is not as definitive as you'd think.

and, voila! there they go and prove my point. The actual moment of death, medically speaking, seems to be a bit of a mystery.

[formercia]

24. This is just blatant propaganda from the Clinton campaign.

Pull the tubes, already, and see if SHE wakes up. :rofl:

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. Hypothermia, and if the doctors don't get this I'll send them back to med school

the lot of them!

True story

Gent who fell into a septic tank IN WINTER.. we pulled him out and had no pulse....

We started CPR and careful re-warming, which was finished at the hospital.

Once we was stable and ahem.. washed off the fear for the docs was the risk of infection if he aspirated any of the crap... I mean literally.

He lived, no problems... and we all had to be checked to make sure we didn't catch any of the crap... no shit here

And yes, I can bet the answer to her miracle is not god... but the careful used of CONTROLLED hypothermia

Though bad reporting is quite funny...

Rigor mortis my ass... and talking on a ventilator ... sure honey... I want TO SEE THAT ONE!

That damn tube goes DOWN the voice box!