Miracle In Missouri As 'Dead' Teen Comes Back To Life; Mother's Prayers Were Answered, Says Doctor

Doctors at a hospital in Missouri said a 14-year-old boy who had been declared dead for nearly an hour had his heart beating again after his mother started praying loudly, Fox News reported on Friday.

John Smith was one of three boys who fell through the ice in the state's Lake Sainte Louise. When rescuers came, the boy had already been underwater for 15 minutes.

The teen was reportedly rushed to a hospital with no pulse. The staff performed CPR on John for 27 minutes while his two companions were treated for hypothermia.

"He was dead for 45 minutes," Dr. Kent Sutterer was quoted to have told KSDK. There was a "very poor chance of survival."

John's mother "started praying loudly" after being called into the room by the doctor.

"I don't remember what all I said. But I remember, 'Holy God, please send your Holy Spirit to save my son.' ... All of a sudden I heard them saying, 'We got a pulse, we got a pulse,'" said Joyce Smith, John's mother.

Dr. Sutterer said John's heart started beating again in "a minute or two" after his mother started praying.

Trying to make sense of what happened, Dr. Sutterer later wrote: "His heart was jump-started by the Holy Spirit listening to the request of his praying mother."

Meanwhile, another doctor described the incident as "a bona fide miracle."

John's brain function is now normal and he is now at home walking and talking. He is undergoing physical therapy to regain movement in his hands.

"After listening to what the paramedics and doctors said I'm pretty surprised at the outcome," John said.

Many ask if the lake's icy water helped preserve John's brain function.

Dr. Garrett, an SSM Cardinal Glennon pediatric intensivist, said the answer is both a "yes" and a "no" as chilling one's body can preserve the brain function in patients with certain heart problem, KSDK wrote.

However, it "really shouldn't have worked in John's case," said Dr. Garrett, because the lake water's temperature was only 40 degrees. While John's body dropped to 88 degrees, it was not lowered in a controlled setting, he said.

"Usually you'd like it to be colder and you'd like the victim to be smaller actually because what you really need to have happen is for the brain to get cold before the blood flow stops to the brain," Dr. Garrett said. "So, for John's brain to have gotten cold to be protected from the lack of blood flow and the lack of oxygen really is a miracle in itself."