Kathrine Frich
What began as a family’s moment of grief turned into a story that stunned the world.
A Mississippi pensioner pronounced dead was already on his way to a funeral when the impossible happened.
Walter Williams’ case became one of the most unsettling medical stories of the past decade.
A death confirmed
On February 27, 2014, Walter Williams, a 78-year-old farmer and grandfather of 15, was admitted to a hospice in Mississippi with congestive heart failure.
Later that evening, medical staff and a coroner checked his pulse and found no heartbeat.
Williams was pronounced dead around 9pm. His family, devastated by the loss, contacted a funeral home to begin preparations.
His body was placed in a body bag and transported to Porter and Sons Funeral Home, where embalmers were preparing to preserve him for burial.
Movement in the morgue
Just hours later, staff noticed something extraordinary. As preparations were about to begin, Williams started to move.
Holmes County Coroner Dexter Howard later told CNN: “We got him into the embalming room, and we noticed his legs beginning to move, like kicking. He also began to do a little breathing.”
Emergency services rushed Williams to hospital. Doctors suggested that a combination of medication or a malfunctioning pacemaker may have caused his vital signs to disappear.
Family in shock
Williams’ nephew, Eddie Hester, described the moment the family learned the news. “I stood there and watched them put him in a body bag and zip it up,” he said. “That was at 10:30pm, and at 2:30am, my cousin called me and said ‘Not yet’.”
Hester recalled replying, “what do you mean not yet,” before being told: “‘Daddy still here’,” according to the Mirror.
Williams’ daughter, Martha Lewis, said the family was overwhelmed. “Seemed like he had more life in him again,” she said. “Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus. It was not my daddy’s time.”
A lesson learned
Howard said he had never witnessed anything like it in more than 20 years as a coroner. “Every case I do is a learning experience,” he said, adding: “That miracles can happen.”
The coroner later told the BBC that Williams’ relatives were “just in a state of shock” and rejoicing after his recovery.
Williams’ revival made global headlines. But the miracle was brief.
Just over two weeks later, on March 14, 2014, he died at his home in Lexington, Mississippi, of natural causes.
“It was a two week miracle,” his nephew said. “I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Sources: CNN, BBC, Mirror, Express.
