From WBIR.com “After a man collapsed, stopped breathing, and showed no sign of a pulse, people surrounding him at the time thought he had died. When he woke up several minutes later, the crowd was stunned and now point to faith as the answer.
On January 22nd, Fred McAfee attended a morning worship at Covenant Life Worship Center in Lake City. He got out of his chair to give an offering, and collapsed suddenly.
“No breath, no heartbeat… just completely collapsed,” remembers Pastor Tony McAfee.
Several people attempted to revive Fred McAfee, and an ambulance was called. While the congregation waited, they prayed.
“Its an amazing story, really, about the power of prayer,” said the pastor. “And that miracles still do happen.”
After about 10 minutes, McAfee suddenly awoke. He credits his faith for his survival.
“They gave me CPR, mouth-to-mouth, chest compression… but I give God the credit and the glory,” he said. “Because he’s the one that raised me up.”
Dr. Kip Wenger works in the Emergency Room at UT Medical Center. He did not treat McAfee, but has seen similar cases.
“There are times, on a monthly basis, where someone is believed to be dead and their heart stops, and all of sudden, things get better,” he said.
Dr. Wenger said the most accurate way to determine death is by measuring electro-activity of the heart. He said that is difficult to do outside of a hospital, where machines usually provide results.
“We really want to see if there’s any electro-activity of the heart. Sometimes we get tricked, to be honest. The absence of a pulse sometimes occurs, and yet, somebody is not dead.”
While some point to science, and others to faith, Wenger said strange things can happen when a heart stops beating.
“It’s a little eerie,” he said. “When you talk to these folks, you get a sense that there’s something on that other side.”
Whatever it is, McAfee isn’t worried.
“Once you leave here you’re going home to be with Jesus.”