BRAINTREE, England -- A British woman who was starved of oxygen for 30 minutes and given up for dead by her family made a miraculous return to life, in a case that left medics baffled.
Jean McDonald was expected to die after doctors at Broomfield Hospital in Essex, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of London, removed her breathing tube, the Braintree and Witham Times reported Wednesday.
The 64-year-old grandmother of 16 had suffered a massive cardiac arrest, forcing doctors to place her in an induced coma.
Medics said that she was marked 4.5 out of 5 on a scale that measures brain damage at the time when her breathing tube was removed.
But after being clinically dead for almost 30 minutes, McDonald emerged from her coma.
Her family had already said their goodbyes and even removed locks of her hair as mementos.
McDonald is now able to talk, eat, walk and shower. Her family expects her to be discharged from the hospital next week.
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