Missouri Teen 'Miracle Recovery' Due to Mother's Prayer, Doctor Says
A Missouri teen who spent 15 minutes under icy water and was technically dead for 45 minutes is being hailed as a miracle after recovering.
"I'm surprised I'm alive but it's a real miracle that I'm alive, and I thank God I'm alive, and there's a reason I'm alive, so I'm just going to kind of follow what God has in store for me throughout my life," John Smith, 14, told KSDK.
The teen fell through the ice of a local lake and was underwater for 15 minutes before he was pulled from the icy water. Paramedics rushed him to a hospital but then airlifted him to a specialized unit two hours later. Dr. Kent Sutterer, one of the doctors who worked on John, was unsure of his patient's survival but tried his best to revive the nearly-frozen teen. He performed CPR for 27 minutes and told the news that John was technically "dead for 45 minutes" before telling John's mother.
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"I don't remember what all I said," Joyce Smith told KSDK. "But I remember, 'Holy God, please send your Holy Spirit to save my son. I want my son, please save him.' And they hadn't been getting a pulse at that time, so all of a sudden I heard them saying, 'We got a pulse, we got a pulse.'"
"Within a matter of a minute or two, his heart started again," Kent said. "His heart was jump-started by the Holy Spirit listening to the request of his praying mother."
Another doctor, Jeremy Garrett, who oversaw John's recovery, says it is nothing but a "bonafide miracle."
John is constantly improving and could go home as soon as the end of next week. He remains convinced that God had a hand in his survival and recovery.
"After listening to what the paramedics and doctors said, I'm pretty surprised at the outcome. I don't remember much about it to be honest, but I do remember the tubes," John explained.
