Man was shattered when doctors took his wife off life support—then he heard her whisper 4 words that saved her life
It is a devastating moment for any family member to make the conscious choice to turn off life support for an unresponsive loved one on their deathbed. Despite a bleak hope, the circumstances push them to let the person go. Similarly, the family members of Lyndee Brown Pellettiere-Swapp were pondering this decision as she was in a coma for two long weeks, showing no response, per The Mirror. The doctor noted that she would be taken off of life support and her loved ones, including her husband, Steve, were heartbroken, trying to prepare themselves to say goodbye. However, he was astonished when he heard her whisper something powerfully beautiful.
In October 2015, Lyndee from Arizona was found unresponsive at home by her son, Steven. She was rushed to the Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center and suffered multiple seizures. She went into a coma for two weeks and showed no signs of response to the treatment. She noted that she was unable to move and doctors determined that nothing was working. However, what the doctors didn’t know at the time was that after her seizures stopped, Lyndee was able to hear what was happening around her. Though her recollection was not clear, she remembered her children, Amanda and Steven, by her side, along with her husband, Steve, who spoke to her and offered as much support with their encouragement, per Newzmagazine.com.
However, on seeing no response, the doctors suggested turning off the life support. "I remember a doctor shining a light in my eyes and telling my family that there was no response. The doctor explained what was going to happen when they turned the life support off,” she said. The family was shattered, but as her organs were failing, they decided to go ahead with the doctor’s instructions. "They gave one more day for everyone to come and say their goodbyes. On October 29, they turned my life support off. The entire time, my husband kept whispering in my ear, 'I need you to fight,’” Lyndee poignantly recalled.
The tubes and other equipment were removed. The doctors were on standby, waiting to pronounce her dead and medics awaited taking her away for organ donation, as she had always wanted. However, when everyone thought it was the end of Lyndee’s story, things turned around. Still weak, she knew she had life in her and wanted to make it through. "I [later] woke up but still couldn't move, so I kept trying to talk while moving my eyes to get their attention," she recalled. When her husband noticed, she finally whispered a response that clarified everything. “I'm a fighter,” she remarked.
Surprised, her husband tried to talk to her. He asked whether she knew who he was, and Lyndee responded positively. Steve fetched the doctor and said, “She is doing everything you said she wouldn't do.” From thereon began a miraculous recovery, and the very next month, Lyndee was discharged. Her recovery was slow, but it was powerful. She remarked that even 23 months after the incident, she couldn't explain what caused it to conclude the way it did. Lyndee suffered health issues and other complications after her coma and, unfortunately, passed away in October 2017. The Maryvale Highschool Phoenix, AZ, Class of 88, shared a tribute on Facebook from her daughter and revealed that she passed away peacefully in her sleep. She will forever be remembered as a fighter for holding on just a little longer to be with her loved ones.