A former pageant queen is miraculously getting a second chance at life.
Barbara Guthrie Lay, crowned Miss Virginia in 1958, was pronounced dead by hospital staff on Dec. 22 after battling the coronavirus but minutes later was found to have a pulse again, according to local news channel WSET.
The 82-year-old resident of Roswell, Ga., who had been admitted to the hospital two days prior with trouble breathing, has since been moved from the ICU to a regular hospital room amid her continued recovery.
"As a physician, I will say without hesitation there is only one word for what has happened over the past week—a miracle," her son Thom Kelley told the Martinsville Bulletin.
Tony Lay, her husband of six years, had already begun calling friends and family to let them know she had passed away when he received the unbelievable news.
"I was overjoyed and tearful again," Tony said. "I went from being miserable and brokenhearted to overjoyed."
He said it's still unclear how this happened, but he shared that his wife had previously made it known that she wanted to reach the age of 101 to allow the pair to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.
"I have always loved my wife," Tony continued. "I just didn't realize exactly how much until this happened, and that I can't live without her."
Barbara's longtime friend Howard Huff told the Bulletin that she had been on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma prior to her resuscitation.
"She's the Christmas miracle," the friend added. "Lots of people have been praying for her, and those prayers have been answered."