Woman baffles doctors after being dead for 17 hours and then coming back to life

“I was given confirmation from God to take her off the ventilator and my pastor said the same thing. I felt a sense of peace that I made the right decision. Her skin had already started hardening, her hands and toes were curling up. There was no life there.” After he left the hospital though, he received a phone call from medics saying his mum was showing signs of life. Just 10 minutes after being taken off life support, Velma miraculously woke up while nurses were removing the tubing. By the time Tima had rushed back to hospital, she was awake and asking for her son. Dr Eggleston said the incident was nothing short of a "miracle." He told ABC News: "There are things that physicians and nurses we can't always explain. And I think this is one of those cases." The incredibly rare occurrence is known as Lazarus syndrome or, to give it its less technical name, autoresuscitation after failed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. This is where the heart spontaneously starts beating again at a normal rate following failed attempts at resuscitation. Velma's 17 hour is thought to be the world record for the longest time dead before coming back to life.