In a harrowing medical ordeal, a British university student miraculously survived after being clinically dead for 25 minutes at a US hospital. According to the BBC, Charlie Vincent's inaugural day as a canoeing instructor at a summer camp in New Hampshire took a drastic turn when excessive sun exposure left him with severe second-degree burns on his legs.
Unaware of the severity of his burns, he continued to work, but the pain and damage soon became too much to bear, leading to a medical emergency. Camp leaders rushed him to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed not only severe sunburn but also pneumonia. As doctors performed emergency surgery, his heart stopped for 25 minutes and he also suffered a mini-stroke.
It took a chilling 25 minutes before the his heart restarted, his family said. Charlie's 24-year-old sister, Emily Vincent, described his operating table recovery as a "miracle". She also shared that doctors discovered he had an enlarged heart, also known as cardiomegaly, which means the heart has to work harder than normal.
The 20-year-old was subsequently placed in an induced coma for seven days, with doctors initially fearing the need for heart and kidney transplants. However, against all odds, Mr Vincent pulled through, as his organs began to miraculously recover.
''At one point, I just couldn't see a way that Charlie was going to make it, it was absolutely heart-breaking, it was hell. It's definitely a miracle that he's still here, I think the hospital he has been in has given him the most amazing care and without that, I don't think he would have made it,'' she said.
Charlie is now taking his first steps towards a comeback as he has regained the strength to walk again. He is due to return to the UK for further treatment in the coming days on a medical flight.
The Vincent family have set up a GoFundMe to help cover the costs of Charlie's medical bills. It has already raised over 13,000 pounds and is set to be spent on travel costs for the parents as well as the medical bills.
