A Heart-breaking Accident
In 1999, right before the new millennium, the Australian man Bill Morgan was living a relatively normal life. A truck driver by trade, he drove them around during the day and slept in a travel trailer by night. All things considered, the 37-year-old was doing pretty well. Then, disaster struck.
While out working one day, he got in a near-fatal accident. Luckily, he survived. However, at the hospital, he was given medicine that ended up causing a severe allergic reaction. His heart stopped.
Clinically Dead
The heart is one of the most important organs in the human body. It not only pumps the blood that fuels everything, but it also supplies your body with oxygen and nutrients. It regulates carbon dioxide and waste. In other words, it’s essential.
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For it to stop is terrifying. For most people, it means the end of life. That’s exactly what happened to Bill – he was declared clinically dead for nearly 14 minutes. Then, miraculously, his heart started to beat again.
To End Life Support or Not?
It was amazing that his heart just started to beat again after 14 minutes of silence. However, it was also far from certain that it would continue – or that Bill’s life would ever be the same. Although Bill’s heart was beating, he was still in a coma.
Doctors, fearful of the long-term effects on Bill’s life, suggested (two times nonetheless!) that his family pull the plug on his life support. In other words, they recommended that Bill be allowed to pass on.
A Medical Miracle
Rather than pulling the plug, the family chose to wait and see. It was excruciating to sit there and watch Bill in a coma. The minutes, hours, and days went by all too slowly. Then, two weeks in, another medical miracle happened – Bill woke up from the coma.
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Family and medical staff rejoiced. However, they were also cautious and on the lookout for long-term effects such as brain damage. For reasons unknown, none of that showed. Bill was the same Bill as before the accident. It truly was a miracle.
Rethinking His Life
The fact that he was clinically dead and could have had the plug pulled on his life support made Bill more aware of how fragile life really is. Rather than go back to the workplace that caused the accident, he decided to say goodbye to the world of truck driving.
Bill landed another job that made him happier and safer. Alongside the change in his career, he made a personal change as well. Bill proposed to his girlfriend Lisa Wells, and she accepted.
A Lucky Scratch
Life was pretty good for Bill. Alongside cheating death and long-term health effects, he had a new job and a new wife. Feeling lucky one day, he strolled on down to the local store to get a scratch-off ticket.
He went off to the corner, scratched off some numbers, and, to his astonishment, found that he won! Bill was now the proud owner of a brand-new Toyota worth about $30,000. A local Melbourne news station took notice and decided to do a segment on the man who cheated death and then won a car.
Recreating the Moment
The news station contacted Bill and he agreed to do a TV segment. To make it interesting to the viewing audience, the producers chose to recreate the scene. Bill would get another lotto ticket and scratch it off for the cameras. When he did that, everything changed.
“I just won $250,000,” Bill said. The crew was silent. “I’m not joking,” he added. In a bid to recreate winning a $30,000 car, Bill ended up winning nearly 10 times that – on live TV!
A Call to His Wife
As you might imagine, everyone was shocked – especially Bill. “I think I’ll have another heart attack,” he said as he nearly collapsed onto the table in disbelief. A few moments later, he caught his breath, calmed his heart, and called up his wife.
“I just won $250,000” he repeated. His wife was stunned. A smile grew across his face. The entire store was happy for him. “We can buy that house now,” he said to his wife. The Melbourne-based story was picked up by CNN and BBC and spread across the globe.
Spending the Money
Shortly after the exciting phone call, the whole store and TV crew celebrated with a champagne toast. As the day subsided, Bill carried on with his house-buying promise. Flush with a quarter-million dollars, he and his wife met up with a real estate agent to take a look at properties.
They found one that was a perfect fit. Instead of fiddling around with a 30-year mortgage, Bill pulled out a check for $200,000 and bought the house on the spot. The realtor was understandably shocked.
Life After the Big Wins
In a little over a year, Bill went from being clinically dead to emerging from a coma and winning a $30,000 car and $250,000 in cash. As time passed, Bill lived a relatively normal life. Nearly 22 years later, a TV crew checked in on him.
Bill said that he still plays the lottery every week but hasn’t won again since. Despite some recent deaths in his family, Bill still feels pretty lucky for the life he’s been able to lead since waking from a coma and winning the lottery.