David Williams' wife Staci had made arrangements to remove him from the ventilator on the day he woke up.
Not every person gets to cancel their own funeral, but that's exactly what David Williams got to do. The 58-year-old man contracted coronavirus and slipped into a coma. After almost seven weeks, the doctors told his family that his chances of survival were less than one percent. The family painfully accepted the decision and started making arrangements for his funeral, with a family friend even agreeing to be his pallbearer. The family agreed on a date to take him off the ventilator but on the said day, Williams miraculously woke up, stunning everyone.
His wife, Staci, was shocked after planning to take him off the ventilator that same day. The doctors and Williams' family were left shocked by his sudden recovery. “We had planned the day after Thanksgiving to have the ventilator turned off," said Staci, reported KSHB. "They didn't think he would survive very long, and the day after Thanksgiving when we showed up, he opened his eyes,” she recalled.
For Dr. Scott Kujath, a family friend of the Williams, this is one of those incidents that felt like an intervention from God. "Then, that Friday I got a phone call saying the funeral was canceled, and that's just amazing. I’m a physician, I understand the science of medicine but the art of medicine is fabulous, and when God's got a plan other than ours he can work miracles, still." Dr. Kujath revealed the family had planned to take him off the ventilator much earlier but he asked to wait a little longer. “I flat out said, I don't think it's time,” said Kujath. “And I don't have a good reason why, I didn't have a medical answer as to why, but it just didn't seem like it was that time yet."
Williams' recovery is just as startling as was his waking up. He has since been taken off dialysis and his kidneys are recovering too. "I just see it as an opportunity to come back and finish out my life story,” said Williams after getting a second shot at life. The pandemic has been particularly devastating for his family considering he lost his father and friends to the virus. So this turn of events has come as great news for his loved ones. “There is hope, we don't have all the answers on this disease yet and we're getting surprises every day,” he said. The church where his funeral was planned never had to cancel a funeral before this one. “It's just a miracle and I'm grateful to be the recipient,” said Williams.
Dr. Kujath believes fervent prayers did play a part in Williams' which he calls a miracle. "I think there's been a lot of people in the Kansas City area as well as friends that we have internationally that have been praying for David this entire time and I do believe that's made the difference because I can't explain it with science," said Kujath. Williams has now started to walk again and doesn't need external support to breathe either. Staci looks at her husband's story as one of hope. “That strength that you just can't understand was there,” said Staci of her husband. “And that’s the story that people need, is that hope and that love.” Williams' also believes that there is strength in hope, which is why he wants people to never give up. Dr. Kujath has started a GoFundMe campaign to help his friend, who was self-employed prior to being hospitalized. Close to $14,000 has been raised to help Williams get back on his feet.
References:
https://www.kshb.com/news/coronavirus/lees-summit-man-wakes-up-from-7-week-covid-19-coma-cancels-funeral
https://www.gofundme.com/f/david-williams-covid-relief-fund
Cover Image Credit: GoFundMe
