Man comes back to life 30 minutes after dying

A 23-year-old man, Michael Wilkinson, came back to life half an hour after doctors declared him dead in a rare example of a phenomenon known as Lazarus Syndrome.

Mr Wilkinson was pronounced dead by staff at the Royal Preston Hospital on February 1. But 30 minutes after he was given the Last Rites doctors realised that his pulse had returned. He survived for two days before being pronounced dead a second time.

An inquest in the city heard that his return to life was known as Lazarus Syndrome - the spontaneous return of circulation once attempts at resuscitation have failed. The syndrome takes its name from the biblical story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. There are only 38 recorded cases in the world.



John Whittaker, a consultant at the Royal Preston's accident and emergency department, said it was "not a small thing" to pronounce a patient dead. "You make absolutely certain," he added. In Mr Wilkinson's case medical staff had worked on him for 15 minutes before acknowledging that there was nothing more they could do to help him.

Mr Whittaker told the hearing: "There is a phenomenon known as Lazarus Syndrome. It is incredibly rare - there have only been 38 cases of this ever in the world." The inquest heard that Mr Wilkinson had collapsed after an evening in which he had enjoyed a number of drinks with his family.

However, tests showed that alcohol played no part in the incident. A post mortem carried out at the Royal Blackburn Hospital found that he had an undiagnosed heart condition in which his left ventricle had become abnormally thickened. The assistant deputy coroner for Preston, Derek Baker, recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.