14 DAY TRIAL // He revived just in time. The man had been declared brain-dead four months ago, and his organs were on the verge of finding other users.
Zach Dunlap, 21, of Frederick, was pronounced dead Nov. 19 at United Regional Healthcare System in Wichita Falls, Texas, after suffering an accident in an all-terrain vehicle. His family agreed for organ donation. But just when his kin were paying their last respects, the man moved his hand when pressed under a fingernail and his foot reacted to a pocketknife scraped across it. 2 days later, Dunlop left the hospital and now he is still recovering.
"I feel pretty good. But it's just hard ... just ain't got the patience," Zach told NBC.
The young man cannot remember the crash.
"I remember a little bit that was about an hour before the accident happened. But then about six hours before that, I remember," he said.
But what's chilling is that he remembers hearing the doctors pronouncing his death. "I'm glad I couldn't get up and do what I wanted to do. Probably would have been a broken window that went out," said Zach.
"There was no activity at all, no blood flow at all," Zach's father, Doug, told about his son's brain scans taken after accident.
Zach's mother, Pam, was the one who found her son was still living. "That was the most miraculous feeling. We had gone, like I said, from the lowest possible emotion that a parent could feel to the top of the mountains again," she said.
Zach still has memory issues and the brain recovery may take over one year. "It may take a year or more ... before he completely recovers. But that's OK. It doesn't matter how long it takes. We're just all so thankful and blessed that we have him here," said Pam.