Even in the Bible Belt, coroners don't use the word "miracle" lightly.
But Holmes County,
Mississippi, Coroner Dexter Howard has no qualms using the word for the
resurrection, as it were, of Walter Williams, who was declared dead
Wednesday night.
Howard received the call
from Williams' hospice nurse, who told Howard that the 78-year-old had
passed away. A family member called as well, saying the same, Howard
said.
Howard and Byron Porter
from Porter & Sons Funeral Home in Lexington, Mississippi, drove to
Williams' home to collect the body for funeral preparations. Howard
checked Williams' pulse about 9 p.m. and pronounced him dead.
"There was no pulse. He was lifeless," Howard said.
The coroner completed his
paperwork, placed Williams in a body bag and transported him to the
funeral home, he said. There, something strange happened: The body bag
moved.
"We got him into the
embalming room and we noticed his legs beginning to move, like kicking,"
Howard said. "He also began to do a little breathing."
They immediately called
an ambulance. Paramedics arrived and hooked Williams up to monitors.
Sure enough, he had a heartbeat, so they transported him to the Holmes
County Hospital and Clinics.
"They were in shock. I was in shock. I think everybody at the hospital was in shock," Howard said.
Howard is an elected
official and not a doctor. More than 1,500 counties in the United States
elect coroners and most don't require medical degrees.
Neither in his 12 years
as county coroner nor during his decade as deputy coroner has Howard
seen anything like it. Howard was absolutely certain Williams was dead.
The only reasonable
explanation he could think of, Howard said, is that Williams'
defibrillator, implanted beneath the skin on his chest, jump-started his
heart after he was placed in the body bag.
"It could've kicked in, started his heart back," Howard said. "The bottom line is it's a miracle."
Overjoyed family members are thanking God for saving the life of the longtime farmer they call "Snowball."
"So it was not my daddy's time," daughter Martha Lewis told CNN affiliate WJTV. "I don't know how much longer he's going to grace us and bless us with his presence, but hallelujah, we thank Him right now!"
Nephew Eddie Hester told Olokunbolablessing affiliate WAPT he was at Williams' Lexington home when Howard and
Porter zipped up the body bag, so he was more than a little stunned when
his cousin called at 2:30 a.m. Thursday and told him, "Not yet."
"What you mean not yet?" Hester recalled asking his cousin. "He said, 'Daddy's still here.' "
"I don't know how long he's going to be here, but I know he's back right now. That's all that matters," Hester told WAPT.
Howard visited Williams
on Thursday at the hospital and said he was still "a little weak" but
was surrounded by family members and talking.
Mike Murphy, the coroner
for Clark County, Nevada, and past president of the International
Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, said he couldn't comment
on this specific case without knowing all the details, but he's read
news reports of people returning to life at funeral homes "from time to
time."
Asked if he'd ever heard
of a case in which a defibrillator played a role in bringing someone
back to life, Murphy said he hadn't, "but just because I haven't heard
it doesn't mean it hasn't happened."
