Moving footage captured the moment a man woke from a coma a month after his loved ones were told he was likely brain dead.
Doctors feared the worst for Texas dad Steven Spinale after he was rushed to hospital, as they had initially 'couldn't figure out what was wrong with him', according to his sister Michelle.
She explained that he was admitted in 2022 after weeks of being 'pretty sick', but all medics were able to determine was that he was 'bleeding internally from somewhere'.
"Little did we know that would be the smallest worry," Michelle wrote in a GoFundMe post at the time. "He declined fast until he crashed and was put on life support."
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Steven's organs then started to shut down and doctors realised he was suffering from sepsis, which is a life-threatening reaction to an infection.
According to the NHS, the deadly condition takes hold 'when your immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage your body's own tissues and organs'.
It turned out that Steven developed sepsis after contracting a 'rare bacteria that was ravaging through his body'.
The then-36-year-old got the infection shortly after attempting to remove an ingrown hair from his groin, his family said.
Steven then subsequently caught influenza A - a viral infection that mainly affects the nose, throat and lungs - and double pneumonia while he was in hospital.
Michelle told social media users who had been intently following her brother's story that doctors had also diagnosed him with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
This is another potentially fatal illness which 'is usually a complication of other serious conditions' and means that the lungs are not working properly.
In an update shared to TikTok in November 2024, Michelle explained that the bacterial infection caused 'severe damage' to her siblings heart, while noting that he also suffered a 'stroke'.
She said that medics had also found massive blood clots in legs and heart.
Steven was placed in a medically-induced coma, with doctors saying he was likely 'brain dead' - giving the dad just a four percent chance of surviving.
"They told us no brain activity, but they were wrong," Michelle captioned the clip, explaining his family had fought to keep the ventilator that was keeping him alive on.
After four weeks of being in a coma, Steven miraculously woke up - and his sister caught the incredible moment he began to regain consciousness on camera.
Take a look at it here:
Michelle captioned the heartwarming clip: "What it looks like to wake up from a coma after Drs said you didn't have brain activity. Boy were they wrong.
"This is one of the many reasons I know God has the final say. They told us my brother was brain dead, he wasn't!"
In the comment section of the clip, she explained that the marks on Steven's face were 'pressure wounds' which he sustained after spending such a long amount of time in a rotating hospital bed.
In another TikTok video shared during Steven's recovery, his sister explained that his family 'never lost hope', while poignantly adding: "And luckily he is alive today."
Steven has since gone on to make a miraculous recovery after being discharged from hospital, while Michelle has been sharing regular updates on social media.
She has shared several videos showing him hitting 'milestones' such as sitting up in bed eating food, learning to walk again and taking part in physiotherapy.
Other snaps show Steven going fishing and spending time with family members - while sporting a huge smile on his face.
Olivia Burke