Ms Suzanne Chin declared brain dead but miraculously survives
It was like any typical morning when Ms Suzanne Chin, a Singaporean lawyer, woke her kids up and hurried them to school. She then took a walk around her Hong Kong home and hiked through the neighbourhood with her dog. Upon reaching home, her husband, Mr John Alabaster, told her how pale she was and shortly after he called for the ambulance, Ms Chin slipped into a coma.
After two agonising hours in the hospital and and being put in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), doctors failed to find any brain stem activity and consequently pronounced her brain dead. Ms Chin’s doctor in Hong Kong diagnosed the slipping down of a valve in a key blood vessel, causing her heart to stop.
Doctors were about to pull the plug but Ms Chin’s family refused to give up and kept the life support ventilator on. Mr Alabaster recalls how “there was a smell of death” over his wife but they just could not bring themselves to switch the machine off.
Miraculous turn of events
Surprisingly, the next morning, however, Mr Alabaster reported that he saw his wife’s eyes open several times. Ms Chin’s brother, Dr Alan Chin, also stated that his sister’s hands moved when he asked her to do so. Despite this, doctors saw the movements as reflex and warned the family not to raise their hopes as they still failed to detect activity in Ms Chin.
Everyone was taken aback, as a result, when Ms Chin regained consciousness just four days after being admitted. When she was subsequently taken off life support and could walk about the next day, doctors were speechless at her amazing recovery.
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“They stood by me and fought for my life, literally”
It frightens Ms Chin and understandably sends a shiver down the spines of many when one considers the fact that her life was so delicately put on the line. This case, hence, attracted the attention of Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon in his address regarding a debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Ms Chin’s family fought hard to keep her on life support when doctors foretold a grim prospect. Going against all odds, her miracle proved that Science was not always indubitable and that taking the life of another — even if it seemed like it would be for a better cause — would never be completely justified.
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“Many believed and had faith in the impossible”
In today’s day and age, where cynicism and pessimism pervades most walks of life, it is difficult for one to remain hopeful amidst difficulty. Ms Chin’s story reminds us that there is always light at the end of the tunnel — and that this light need not be one that we see on a deathbed.
Stories like Ms Chin’s miracle empower the human spirit and inspire us in our everyday experiences. In our daily routines, we very often get so caught up by the hustle and bustle of hectic life that we sadly forget to appreciate the little miracles of living itself. It is always beautiful to witness a miracle, but even more beautiful when we search for our own and find them in the most unexpected of situations.
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