Dead, 3 times!

About a month ago, my father-in-law was rushed to the hospital from what we thought at first as a heart attack. He was pronounced DOA when they arrived at the emergency room. The doctor on duty managed to revive him but gave us a very slim chance of recovery. My SIL , who was the first to reach the hospital told us that he had actually died three times in a span of six hours. We were also informed that his brain had been without oxygen for at least ten or fifteen minutes, the reason for the coma. His case? His heart suddenly stopped beating for no apparent reason. My FIL is 75 and has undergone a multiple heart bypass surgery 14 years ago. For 2 days he was in a coma but he miraculously woke up on the third day as if nothing happened to him.

He is now back at home, not quite back as himself because the loss of oxygen, we were told, had an effect on his brain. He doesn't remember what happened and has also forgotten a lot of things. Had it not been for the young intern sitting beside him inside the church where it happened, we could have lost him. The student doctor was on his way to school but happened to pass by the church to hear the early morning mass. When FIL fainted beside him, they rushed him to his car, got his Pelican Cases out and administered first aid. He felt no pulse so they immediately rushed him to the hospital. We will forever be grateful to this man.

Although not quite the same, FIL still does the same things he did before it happened. But with some therapies, we are hopeful he'll recover from it.