By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

An Australian woman diagnosed as being hopelessly “brain dead” after suffering a massive stroke unexpectedly awoke, prompting doctors to call her case a “miracle.”

According to ntnews.com.au, 56 year-old Gloria Cruz suffered a stroke in her sleep on March 7 and was rushed to Royal Darwin Hospital in Australia’s Northern Territory. A CAT scan revealed that she probably had a brain tumor and was rushed into surgery.

“The moment I saw my wife in the ICU I thought I’d collapse,” said her husband, Tani Cruz, 51.

“I couldn’t believe that I was looking at the woman I have loved for 27 years. She was not my wife. Her face was swollen. Her hair was gone. Tubes were inserted in her mouth. There was a tube in the top of her head. Another in her hands. And she was lying almost lifelessly.”

Mr. Cruz was told his wife’s case was “hopeless” and that she would probably die within 48 hours.

When a doctor recommended that the ventilator be removed and Mrs. Cruz be allowed to die, her husband told them “I’m a Catholic — I believe in miracles.”

He insisted that a miracle could still happen. “I told him that God knows how much I love her – that I don’t want her to suffer but I don’t want her to leave us.”

Mr. Cruz asked the doctors to give her more time. They agreed and she survived, in a coma, for another two weeks, after which time a breathing tube was inserted in her mouth and the ventilator was finally switched off.

Much to their astonishment, Mrs. Cruz did not die, but awoke from her coma three days later.

The doctor was so amazed, he proclaimed: “It’s a miracle.” He then turned to Mr. Cruz and said: “I am happy that my prognosis was wrong.”

Mrs. Cruz is now alert and getting around in a wheelchair at the hospital.

“She’s well on the way to recovery,” her husband said.

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