Looking down over Christina Nichole at Sacred Heart Hospital Neuro ICU on July 16, 2004 — 1st day of coma. On full life-support, declared brain dead with NIL chance of recovery. Christina is not overweight at all, but the fluids pumped into her body have made her all swollen up and puffy until she is barely recognizable. We refused to believe her doctors and would not allow them to euthanize her as they wanted to... so they could harvest her organs, remove her from government insurance, or whatever was on their minds since they lied to us every inch of the way. She was NOT brain dead and they had Cat Scans that proved it, but they would not share that information with us. See the rest of the story, if interested, through the other photos in this album and two others. Blessings, Judy (Christina's mother)

A midde-aged American woman was pronounced dead but woke up after being brain dead for 17 hours as she was taken off life support. Doctors call it a miracle, British newspaper Daily Telegraph reported on May 26, 2008.

The British newspaper reported the 59-year-old Velma Thomas was brain dead for some 17 hours before she came alive.

The following is the full story of the Daily Telegraph.

A 59-year-old American woman who was presumed dead after her heart stopped and she was taken off life support came back to life, stunning her doctors and family.

After Velma Thomas, from Nitro, West Virginia, went into cardiac arrest at home, medics managed to establish a faint pulse after eight minutes of CPR. But at hospital, her heart stopped twice more and she was placed on life support.

For more than 17 hours doctors failed to detect any brain activity, despite extensive attempts to revive her, including pioneering treatment to lower her body's temperature in a bid to stimulate the brain.

Family members braced themselves for the worst. Tim Thomas, Velma's son, said he and two dozen relatives and friends gathered at the hospital and "prayed and prayed and prayed" before starting to accept Mrs Thomas would not survive.

"I came to the conclusion she wasn't going to make it," Mr. Thomas, 36, told the Charleston Daily Mail. "Her skin had already started hardening, her hands and toes were curling up, they were already drawn. There was no life there."

Doctors told him there was no pulse, blood pressure or measurable brain activity. "There were really no signs she had neurological functions," Kevin Eggleston, a internal medicine specialist, told ABC News. The family decided to turn off life support and say their goodbyes.

But as they began making funeral arrangements, Mr Thomas was contacted by the hospital and told that soon after being taken off life support, his mother had come back to life. Mrs Thomas had begun moving her limbs when suddenly her heart re-started, a nurse said.

By the time Mr. Thomas got back to the hospital, "She had already asked, 'Where's my son?' "he told the Charleston Daily Mail.