A rare return to life can occur minutes after being declared dead. [iStockphoto]In the pin-drop silence following a failed resuscitation, medical professionals sometimes witness the impossible: the Lazarus Effect. Technically known as autoresuscitation, this rare phenomenon occurs when a patient’s pulse and breathing spontaneously return minutes after they have been pronounced dead. According to the Cleveland Clinic, there have been 76 cases of autoresuscitation reported in medical literature from 1982 to 2022. Medical literature suggests that these return to life events typically occur within 10 minutes of CPR being terminated.

Source: Standard Digital April 06, 2026 07:35 UTC