The concept of a "miracle" in the context of someone dying and coming back to life, particularly after their heart has stopped for an extended period, often refers to cases where individuals defy typical medical prognoses for survival and neurological recovery after cardiac arrest. These events are considered extraordinary because the human brain typically suffers irreparable damage after only a few minutes without oxygen.[1] The duration for which a heart can stop and a person still be revived with a positive outcome varies significantly depending on the circumstances, especially the presence of therapeutic hypothermia.

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One notable example is Audrey Schoeman (also referred to as Audrey Mash in some reports), a British woman who suffered a six-hour cardiac arrest in the Pyrenees mountains in November 2019 due to severe hypothermia.[1] [2] Her body temperature dropped to 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 Fahrenheit), which doctors believe slowed her brain metabolism, protecting it from oxygen deprivation.[1] [2] She was treated at Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, where an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine was used to oxygenate her blood and pump it through her body while she was slowly warmed.[1] [2] After six hours, her heart was restarted, and she made a full neurological recovery, with only a slight loss of sensitivity in her hands.[1] [2] Doctors involved in her case described her survival as "like a miracle."[1] [2]

Other documented cases of extended cardiac arrest survival include:

• A woman whose heart stopped for 45 minutes at the same time her daughter was giving birth in the same hospital, and she subsequently recovered.[3]
• Jissel Rosario, a 12-year-old girl, whose heart stopped for 45 minutes due to complications from COVID-19. She was also placed on an ECMO machine and made a remarkable recovery with no brain damage or organ failure, despite the typical prognosis for such a prolonged lack of oxygen.[5]
• Lauren Canaday, a US woman, was pronounced "clinically dead" for 24 minutes after sudden cardiac arrest at home. Her husband initiated CPR, and EMTs were able to resuscitate her. She recovered with no visible brain damage on MRIs, although she experienced some memory loss from the period around the event.[4] Her case is described as an example of the "Lazarus effect" or autoresuscitation, a rare phenomenon where a patient declared dead from cardiac arrest spontaneously shows signs of life.[4]
• Christi Nelson, a 37-year-old woman, survived without a heartbeat for 62 minutes after sudden cardiac arrest. She was revived in the emergency room and made a full recovery, with doctors calling her case a "miracle" as there were no other known documented cases of someone surviving such a long period without a heartbeat at the time.[6]

These cases highlight that while prolonged cardiac arrest typically leads to severe brain damage or death, specific conditions, such as profound hypothermia or immediate and effective CPR, can significantly alter the outcome, leading to what are often termed "miraculous" recoveries.[1] [2] [4] [5] [6] The medical community continues to study these rare occurrences to better understand the mechanisms of survival and improve resuscitation techniques.

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