Woman Wakes Up After 17 Hours With No Signs of Life
against all odds: when someone succeeds or survives even though it seemed almost impossible
When doctors in West Virginia turned off Velma Thomas’s life support, they thought she was gone. For 17 hours, there had been no sign of brain activity, even as machines kept her body alive. Her skin had begun to harden, and her family gathered to say goodbye.
Velma’s heart had stopped three times after she went into cardiac arrest at home. Doctors tried everything, even cooling her body to protect her brain. Still, there were no signs of life. Her son Tim accepted that his mother would not survive.
But minutes after being taken off life support, against all odds, something extraordinary happened. Velma began to move, her heart restarted, and she spoke. Dr. Kevin Eggleston, later said, “It’s a miracle. The odds were certainly against her.”
Stories like Velma’s raise questions about what it means to be dead. Doctors say “clinical death” usually means the heart has stopped and blood is no longer bringing oxygen to the brain. After about five minutes without oxygen, brain cells start to die. In rare cases like Velma’s, CPR, life support machines or cooling the body can slow that process, giving doctors more time to bring someone back.
Sample sentences
The team won the championship against all odds after losing their best player early in the season.
She started her own successful business against all odds, with no money and no experience.
The scientists found a cure against all odds, after every other experiment had failed.
Origin
This expression comes from the idea of “odds” in gambling or chance. If the odds are against someone, it means success is very unlikely.
Read More:
What’s the longest someone has been clinically dead — but then come back to life?