A 28-year-old U.S. Navy veteran who was expected to die after doctors discovered he had severe brain damage has regained consciousness days after his family began preparing his funeral and arranging for organ donation — a recovery his relatives are calling a miracle.
Ethan Prezeau was taken off life support because his family believed he had no chance of recovery. Instead of dying, he reportedly woke up afterwards and is now smiling, joking, and laughing.
In early June, Prezeau moved to Pensacola, Florida, to start a new chapter in his life with his girlfriend, Piper Wade. While unloading his truck, Wade realizes he hasn’t returned home. She went outside and found him unconscious, according to the family’s GoFundMe campaign.
“You don’t want to see your loved one in that condition,” Wade told WEAR-TV. “So I freaked out and didn’t know CPR right away, but I knew what it was, so I tried it a little bit.”
“But then I realized I didn’t know what I was doing, so I ran inside the house as quickly as I could and called 911, and they were on the scene right away,” she continued. “They got there in probably about 30 seconds.”
Doctors later determined that Prezeau had a severe infection affecting his heart and spent several days on life support. As time passed, the veterans’ families began to lose hope.
“We did an MRI of his brain and the MRI showed that his thalamus was black and dead,” his stepmother, Denise Prezeau, told WEAR News. “So we had no hope at all.”
Although Prezeau was breathing on his own, there was no hope of recovery, and Prezeau’s family was preparing to remove him from life support, but his girlfriend asked him to wait another 10 days.
During that 10-day wait, the family researched funeral homes, made appropriate arrangements and prepared for organ donation, according to the fundraising page. When the 10th day arrived, family members came to say their goodbyes and nurses removed the Navy veteran from life support.
“We wanted to do it together,” Wade explained. “And this is what happened to me. You wanted to start your life with someone and now it’s all gone and you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s like they pulled the rug out from under you.”
After the hospital held an organ donor honor walk with the family and presented him with an American flag to honor his military service, the family said their goodbyes and went for a walk on the beach to honor Prezeau’s favorite pastime.
“While they were gathered on the beach, the phone rang. The hospital asked them to come back and choose a hospice spot,” the GoFundMe page says.
“Miraculously, Ethan was awake when they came into the room. He followed his father across the room, turned his head and smiled. He stuck his tongue out at the nurses three times. He raised his arm and grabbed his father’s finger. He tried to give a thumbs up. Ethan is back!”
Doctors say Prezeau’s organs are fine. He initially suffered from a heart infection and will be transferred to a rehabilitation facility specializing in traumatic brain injuries.
“We witnessed a miracle! God clearly has much more in store for Ethan, Piper, and their new family. He survived a major medical miracle!” Dennis Prezeau wrote in a statement about the family’s fundraiser.
Ethan Prezeau’s case comes amid renewed public attention to the organ donation process. Last year, The New York Times analyzed a scenario involving a type of organ removal called post-mortem donation.
According to the Times, patients in blood donation cases due to circulatory death are on life support and maintain some brain activity. However, people who are brain dead are in an irreversible state and machines are used to maintain their organs.
The Times reports that in 2024, cyclical death donations will account for one-third of all donations.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
