‘Brain Dead’ Student Awakens Hours After Doctors Suggest Pulling the Plug
- Posted on December 22, 2011 at 3:46pm by
Liz Klimas
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Sam Schmid, 21, awoke from being considered brain dead after a car accident.
It’s an event being called a “modern day miracle” and the best Christmas present “ever ever ever”. Sam Schmid, a 21-year-old University of Arizona student, awoke from a coma just hours after the doctors broached the subject of taking him off life support and organ donation with his parents.
Good Morning America reports that Schmid was in a car crash in October that killed two fellow passengers, leaving him with a brain injury that had “all the odds stacked against him,” according to his neurosurgeon, Dr. Robert Spetzler. Now doctors expect Schmid to make a full recovery.
“It seems like we were being led down a path to plan for the worst and that things were not going to work out,” said John Schmid. “The miracle, to put it bluntly, was that in a matter of seven days, we went from organ donation to rehab. What a roller coaster it was.”
Watch the ABC News report including Schmid’s comments on his recovery:
Spetzler, from the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Phoenix, operated on Schmid who had an aneurysm among other complications from the accident. While it didn’t seem like Schmid was responding, the procedure Spetzler conducted eventually worked.
Good Morning America continues:
For days Schmid didn’t seem to be responding, but what puzzled his doctor was that he did not see fatal injuries on the MRI scan. So he decided to keep Schmid on life support longer.
“There was plenty wrong — he had a hemorrhage, an aneurysm and a stroke from the part of the aneurysm,” Spetzler said. “But he didn’t have a blood clot in the most vital part of his brain, which we know he can’t recover from. And he didn’t have a massive stroke that would predict no chance of a useful existence.”
At this point, the family was given an honest prognosis of Schmid’s outlook — it wasn’t positive. Schmid’s mother, Susan Regan, said that she just kept praying. Schmid eventually followed the doctors commands:
“Nobody could ever give me a better Christmas present than this — ever, ever, ever,” Regan said.
“I tell everyone, if they want to call it a modern-day miracle, this is a miracle,” said Regan, 59, and a Catholic. “I have friends who are atheists who have called me and said, ‘I am going back to church.’”
Good Morning America reports that Schmid doesn’t have any recollection of the accident. Read the whole Good Morning America story for more details.
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Comments (168)
C-Delta Conductor
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:51pmJust last year we learned for the first time that cortical damage caused by a stroke can be repaired endogenously by progenitor cells from the SVZ. Neuroscience is changing rapidly, even if medical treatments don’t follow, events like this will be expected in the future rather than being a surprise.
Report Post »NES
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 7:56pmStill, one has to be careful with organ donation, especially now with Obamacare! :P
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp-pU8TFsg0
Partygirl
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 8:44pmMy brother was in a serious accident about 15 years ago. His skull broke in pieces from a long fall onto concrete. The doctors at the trama center induced coma for a month, operated and life support. After that they said they were going to bring him out of it and that he would probably die or be so damaged that he couldn’t function, so for the family to prepare for his death. They brought him out of it and he was fine. He had short term memory problems for about a year and then he was fine. Miracles do happen and there is so much that is still unknown about the human brain. A wonderful Christmas present for this family.
Report Post »Conservative Thinker
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 8:52pmYour assumption is correct. I had that happen in my family. I don’t recommend it. When a family is greiving at the hospital, you don’t want someone coming to ask for their organs, especially since I didn’t feel that everything was done to save my loved one.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 5:42amMiracles DO happen!
All Glory be to God for them!
It is Heavenly Father who has given us the knowledge of modern medicine.
Millions of Jews gave their lives in the Holocaust. Much of our modern medical knowledge came from their suffering and sacrifice. Today, we are expanding on that knowledge with the aid of technology, and communication – also gifts from God – to be used by us. HOW we use these gifts is entirely up to us – whether for good (to God’s Glory,) or for evil (to our own self-promotion, our own fortunes, our own glory, lust, ego, pride, and/or vanity.)
Let us all give the Glory to Almighty God.
I Peter 4:11 “… if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
“Now abideth Faith, Hope, and Love (Charity); but the greatest of these is LOVE (Charity).” I Cor 13:13
“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. ” I Peter 4:8
RESTORING LOVE – July 26 27 28, Dallas, TX – BE THERE !
Report Post »http://www.meetup.com/MercuryOneHQ
Do you GBTV?
ChiefGeorge
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 11:55amWhen they decided to pull the plug I guess he decided the joke had gone far enough.
Report Post »robh
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 6:46pmLet me think, let me think . . .
Obama president = no organ donation. Normal president = organ donation.
Yep, that’s it.
Report Post »silentwatcher
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 11:36pmWell, maybe there IS hope for Obama, after all???
Report Post »V-MAN MACE
Posted on December 24, 2011 at 9:16amIf they really have mind-reading technology, why isn’t that tech being used to help these people recover or more accurately diagnose their condition?
That’s because all the high technology they keep for themselves to use against us as a weapon, not to increase quality of life.
Makes me sick.
Report Post »jungle J
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:47pmI value tough men!
Report Post »P C BE DAMNED
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 6:34pmDoctors are a bunch of fools who when they botch a job they just charge to do it again and to add to that they seem to have taken a course in better than you. They need to know they are human and not God. They also need to know that the patient is human and not cattle. I‘am sure there are exceptions to the rule but if you are a doctor you need to know the people that work for you don’t like you. Fool
Report Post »Damn the Taxes - Full Speed Ahead
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 5:11am@PC Be Damned – I’m not sure what happened to you in the past, but I will pray for you to have a full recovery and hopefully your cognitive skills will return somewhat, perhaps only to a first-grade educational level, but nonetheless it would be better than your current level of cognition.
It sounds like Sam Schmid is a fighter and wasn’t quite ready for the afterlife. He and his family truly have received the best Christmas gift ever as his mother Susan has stated!! This miracle is a real Mitzvah to Sam, his loved ones and the medical professionals helping him!
Report Post »raisethebar
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 7:50pm-PC Be Damned- Dr Spetzler is a good, good man. He was my mother’s doctor for almost 5 years as she battled brain cancer. He is a humble, kind, generous, and exceptionally skilled doctor and it was clear to us that he loved my mother. If you you or a loved one ever need a brain surgeon, pray that you have Dr. Spetzler. His great skill & compassion is known the world over.
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:42pmI’m not trying to discourage organ donation in any way, but I recommend getting all the info before you make the decision. Please correct me, if you know for a fact that I’m wrong. I‘ve always heard that the patient’s organs are removed before life support is turned off, in order to keep the organs from deteriorating. The patient’s time of death is not recorded until after the harvesting of organs.
Report Post »Shane the Golden
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 5:06pmI work in a hospital that does organ “procurement”. I often wonder if the individual is sedated, if they are aware, if they feel what is happening. You are correct, they are pronounced dead after the heart (the last organ) is removed.
Report Post »hubbell627
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 8:32pmDeclaration of death occurs when the brain is clinically and legally declared dead; there is a set criteria of test and results required to be declared, in the true sense of the term. This article is misleading because brain death is a clinical definition and not a labile condition. No doubt this young man had series injuries but as a trauma ICU nurse, this condition and recovery is not unusual.
Report Post »whatdoibelieve
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 1:10am@hubbell627
Declaration of death occurs when the doctor, paramedic, or other authorized personnel calls it. In situations of cardiac arrest this often occurs after the patient has been worked a certain amount of time and has not be successfully resuscitated. The team will cease working the patient and watch the 12 lead ECG. If there is no sign of heart activity they will call the patient and monitoring of the patient will cease. Brain is never involved. I have seen paramedics walk into a scene of a shooting, hook the patient up to the monitor, and call time of death when the saw asystole on the monitor.
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 3:09amHUBBELL… The patient’s time of death is not “recorded” until the heart stops beating. “Declaration” of death (brain dead) is not the recorded time of death.
Long ago, I heard a doctor say, “brain death was created by doctors, in order to get needed organs”.
I’m grateful that there are organ donors. I just feel that people need to be told the facts and the whole truth. It’s sort of like women and abortions. Women are led to believe, by abortion clinics, that an unborn child is just a blob of tissue, not a child.
Report Post »AmeriCat
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 8:51am“Brain death” is not determined by a patient’s lack of response or by looking at monitors in hospital room.
The legal term “brain dead” refers to the specific results of a physiologic medical diagnostic study that is performed by radiology imaging technicians in a hospital and interpreted by a diagnostic radiologist.
One can be “brain dead” and have otherwise normal function of the organ systems, temporarily.
Report Post »However, with cardiac and/or respiratory arrest with subsequent resuscitation, “brain death” may or may not be present. The medical imaging test is the only way to determine….eeg’s may have false positives.
hubbell627
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 12:34pmYou people have no idea what you’re talking about. You not differentiating between brain death and cardiac death. Brain death is a clinical diagnosis an when it is determined, that is considered the time of death. Death declared by paramedic, etc is cardiac death, not brain death. Brain Death is determined in a hospital ICU setting.
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 8:21pmHUBBELL… Please read my original post.
Report Post »What I’ve been talking about from the very beginning, is the time of death recorded for the death certificate. It’s when the heart stops.
A patient is pronounced brain dead, the organs are harvested, then the heart is stopped, then the time of death is recorded for the death certificate.
apojoe69
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:37pmI HATE the right side next story pop out on The Blaze!
Report Post »Kathleen
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 5:15pmMe too. Its annoying. I wish they would remove it.
Report Post »rpp
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 5:25pmI am kind of with you there. I usually just close it.
Report Post »momroots
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 5:32pmMe too!
Report Post »DAVIDTHETANK
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 5:37pmI’m sick of it too. PLEASE REMOVE THE NEXT STORY WINDOW!!
Report Post »eric2waters
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 7:35pmPlaced there for idiots who don’t know how to navigate a web page. Yup, we’re all morons, here.
Report Post »AmeriCat
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 8:54amAgree. A nuisance.
Report Post »America First
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 11:59amI have asked also to have it removed. It is annoying and distracting.
Report Post »Wu Ming Ren
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 5:27pmIt could be worse, as in those ads that cover the entire story you’re trying to read, but they don‘t pop up until you’re halfway through the first paragraph. Still, it is annoying, because I don’t read stories in the order presented. I scan all the titles and click on the ones that interest me. There is simply no way that I’m going to click to the “next story,“ so I have to click the ”x” every time. I hope you guys at The Blaze can take some constructive criticism and yank that pop-up off of here.
Report Post »Ivan in Phoenix
Posted on December 24, 2011 at 2:41amGo to this web page >>> misternifty.com/theblaze-betterblaze/
It tells you how to turn that stupid next story thing off and improves a few other things about The Blaze.
Report Post »valleyfever
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:33pmDr. Spetzler was recommended to me a few years back. I was told that he was one of the best neurosurgeons around. Looks like the kid had the divinely guided hands of a gifted surgeon. Good luck to him.
Report Post »Shane the Golden
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 5:07pmor the grasping hands of a surgeon all too eager to kill a kid that could make a come back.
Just Saying
Report Post »hubbell627
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 8:35pm@Shane the golden: you don‘t know what you’re talking about.
Report Post »hubbell627
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 8:39pm@Shane the golden: you don‘t know what you’re talking about. You don’t work in medicine, obviously, and therefore you don’t know what your saying.
Report Post »lynda1276
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:32pmit is always good to read a story with a happy ending
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:43pmI love Christmas Miracles.
Report Post »mils
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:44pm:) anytime is a good time for miracles!!
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 6:06pmThe guy was just faking, he didn’t want to take his mid term or take out the garbage. As soon as they said “Pull the plug”, he said “Hey, don’t do that, I’m awake.”
The next time they get someone like this in, just say “We have to castrate him. I bet they wake up real fast. And if not, I guess they really are in a coma.
Report Post »ccharity8
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:30pmALL the glory goes to the Lord Jesus Christ!!! and thankful for good doctors and technology, whereby all that has, also, come from the Lord..MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THAT FAMILY!!!
Report Post »AntipasMetochos
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 5:02pmAmen. This reminds me of the 1 Samuel 25 story of Nabal (especially vv. 36-39). While it didn’t work out too well for him, we learn again that the Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign in life and death (and the only life-support that existed back then–and that humans could give–was prayer).
Report Post »NewLife56
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:29pmThank you Jesus for this, To GOD be ALL the glory
Report Post »ONEGSOUL
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 6:45pmAmen! Praise God & His holy name for this 2nd chance at life. Miracles are Gods way of letting us know we are NOT forgotten.
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 7:40pm[Thank you Jesus for this, To GOD be ALL the glory]
Report Post »Yup, too bad it came at the cost of two others. Maybe next time God and Jesus should plan things a little better or intervene sooner next time… Halfwits.
Mimi24
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 10:21pmYou are exactly right. Pontiac’s response tou your post makes sound like a bitter old man. He’s trying to tell God how to do his job and get it right next time. We know that God makes no mistakes. Ever.
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on December 27, 2011 at 11:23am[We know that God makes no mistakes. Ever.]
God gave us Obama.
Where is your god now?
Report Post »OneTermPresident
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:26pmIt’s all down hill now for his mom in the Christmas present area… she just got the best one she’ll ever get.. Thank God.
Report Post »zorro
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:33pmAmen! God bless these folks.
Report Post »Mimi24
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 10:14pmThis gift is likely enough to keep her happy for the rest of her life. Good story. Adding my prayers for continued blessings for this family. God bless and Merry Christmas.
Report Post »Mark Meed
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:25pmI am a bible-believing charismatic Christian and I KNOW miracles can happen. That said, I invite people to reread the article carefully before pronouncing technology and medicine of no value. A doctor, using technology and his own obvious expertise elected to keep this young man on life support. Getting the facts right in no way diminishes God’s role in all of this.
Report Post »zorro
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:34pmGreat post. God indeed works mysteriously.
Report Post »TBinSTL
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 9:47pmHe spoke through an ass once as I recall…
Report Post »InversionTheory
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:23pmI have a problem with the article’s title. No where in this article, nor in the original do I see a statement that he was “brain dead.” The doctor even seems to be saying they didn‘t know why he wasn’t responding to treatment. Being comatose and being brain dead are not the same thing.
Report Post »nifongnation
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 5:57pmTotally agree. A good example of the latter is Obama, the zombie from Kenya..
Report Post »BeingThere
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:21pmLike we had a shortage of brain dead students??? Di he head on over to occupy Wall St.???
Report Post »Mimi24
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 10:32pmDid you mean to post that or was it a typo? Bad taste there buddy.
Report Post »nifongnation
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 5:58pmOWL are not in a hospital, but ought to be.
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:21pmThank God for another miracle…and Merry Christmas to that kid!
Report Post »666Sucks
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:16pmBeck said there would be miracles, that’s 1 !!!!
Report Post »karenm
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:31pmGlenn was right about miracles. A lot of miracles came out of his 40 day challenge he gave us to do before the rally in Washington D. C.
Report Post »Damn the Taxes - Full Speed Ahead
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 5:28am@666 Sucks – This story is truly uplifting and beautiful in all ways possible. For you to try and proclaim that Glen Beck had something to do with this since “Beck said there would be miracles” “And this is 1” is vulgar at best. There were miracles long before Beck and there will be miracles long after he is gone. Beck has absolutely nothing to do with this or any other miracle. If you believe otherwise then you must be the devil as in 666 and sucking is all relative. Beck is a greedy deceitful prognosticator who gains followers and financial support all based upon fear, half-truths, and outright lies.
Report Post »autigers2010champs
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:14pmI bet he was athletic to begin with and that is what saved him and God. Usually when you have a strong willed person and is a sports person they survive.
Report Post »knighttemplar999
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:09pmWe should fire all the doctors, close the hospitals, and go back to prayer and faith healing.
Report Post »ReaganBaby
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:14pmMaybe in your city, But i am all for more prayer.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:16pmI enjoy not getting horrible Dark Age diseases, not losing limbs from simple injuries, and not being the 1/14 people who would die from appendicitis if there wasn’t a doctor to remove it, thanks.
Report Post »English Major
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 6:35pmWe visited the cemetary in the summer and I explained to my 16 year old daughter that great-great whatever uncle died in 1910 as a child from a burst appendix. We assume that becuase there was of course no autopsy possible or available. She couldn’t grasp the concept that an appendix could kill you. Faith and miracles heal, but I’m glad we have the best medical care in the world. I know that first hand because I lived in Peru in the mid 1980′s. At least they kept Schimid alive so he could recover.
Report Post »ReaganBaby
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:09pmThere is nothing better than hearing stories like this. I am positive it was through pray and the faith of his family and friends that this young man recovered. Merry Christmas
Report Post »Free2speakRN
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:06pmThank You to God.
Makes you think.
Report Post »Cesium
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:33pmYes makes you think,, why this particular person and not 1000 of starving children? What a bunch of BS this story is. What poor medical assessment.
Report Post »LemonyFresh
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:54pmWhy? Because God chose to save this one person to serve a purpose. Perhaps to help those thousands of starving children. Maybe your are supposed to be following God instead of being a useless critic and feeding those thousand yourself. Or maybe you are just supposed to be an example of what happens to those who choose to be their own god.
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 8:07pm[Thank You to God.]
Yeah and thanks for killing two others in the process…
[God chose to save this one person to serve a purpose.]
Oh gee wow. Now if only he would intervene in the rape, torture, and murder of children. I guess they didn’t have a purpose to serve.
[instead of being a useless critic and feeding those thousand yourself.]
Why? Apparently god is more than capable being a supreme being and such. If not then they’re going to heaven before they can sin so no worries right? Just keep pecking away at your keyboard and changing no ones minds.
[what happens to those who choose to be their own god.]
Report Post »So far it’s working for him.
garyM
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:04pmSo much for science and modern day technology huh!
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:28pmI think there was a great deal of both science and faith dished out to this young man.
Report Post »zorro
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:37pmC’mon man. Don‘t put words in anyone’s mouth. No one is discounting the role science played in this. It was doctors and machines built by engineers which kept this young man alive. Science played a HUGE role. But a lot of us feel God had a huge hand in this also. God bless the family, this young man, and the doctors and other healthcare providers who cared for him.
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:04pmThank heavens the HHS rules for Obamacare hadn’t been enacted or he would not have been given the time to recover.
Report Post »EchoHawk
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:29pmThey should have pulled the plug, I‘ll bet he’d have lived anyway and think of the money it would have saved on the hospital bill. Now that would have been a miracle.
Report Post »South Philly Boy
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:02pmFaith In The LORD
Report Post »Locked
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 4:02pmWe still have so much to figure out about the brain. Why can two people have injuries in the same area, and one died while the other lives? Why can some injuries cause terrible conditions like loss of motor control, while others can turn someone into a genius artist?
Really glad this man survived, and I’m happy for his family. A Christmas miracle for sure!
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 3:59pmThis is a true testament that doctors are only human and they even can’t predict what will happen when you take someone off life-support. It was not this young lads time and through the grace of God, he was brought back.
What a wonderful Christmas present for him and his family.
Report Post »Thors Hammer
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 3:53pmMerry Christmas, God bless. Now live long and prosper.
Report Post »Hickory
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 3:52pmMaybe it was the power of prayer. Who knows? The point is that his mother never lost faith in him.
Report Post »KittyIsis
Posted on December 22, 2011 at 5:06pmSo do I. They are most annoying!
Report Post »