A Father's Instinct: Defying the Odds for His Son

When George Pickering II's son from Texas, USA, was in a coma for several months after having a stroke, doctors one day informed him of their intention to turn off the life support machine, despite the father's objections.

As doctors repeatedly explained to the family that the son's condition was dire and that there was no chance he would wake up from the coma, the family understood the situation and agreed to disconnect the life support and donate his organs. The only one who opposed was George, the father. Seeing how unyielding the system was to his repeated pleas to keep his son alive, George chose the next extreme measure: he barricaded himself in his son's hospital room with a gun, threatening anyone who tried to make contact.

"I will kill you all," yelled Pickering at hospital workers trying to open the door. For hours, SWAT officers attempted to negotiate with him but to no avail. "Pickering is determined to save his son's life," reported the media. "He insists his son is not brain dead."

Against All Odds - His Son Fully Recovered

The media covered every moment George spent in that room, and just as he held his son's hand, praying for a miracle – no one imagined what happened next: the son, who had shown no signs of recovery for months, suddenly moved inexplicably, and just as the armed police stormed in to arrest the father, George Jr. opened his eyes, and the real drama began.

"Call it a father's intuition. Something told me the hospital was wrong in their judgment. The doctors were moving too quickly, and I knew if I had three or four hours that night, I would feel it if George was truly brain dead. No one listened to me, so the only way I could buy some time was with threats of a gun. All I knew in those moments was that I needed to be with my son and not give up on him."

In hindsight, it turns out his desperate strategy proved successful. During the hours when Pickering refused to leave his son's room, he felt in the grasp of his hand that he was getting a 'new son.' The vibrations returning to him signaled a different type of life message. Today, after his son has fully recovered and proved to the world that nothing is final until Hashem decides so, George hopes people learn the right lesson from his story.

And what does his son have to say about it? "Every good thing that makes me who I am today is credited to this man, my father sitting next to me. He stood firm against the broken law of our state, a law that says people should be disconnected from life-extending machines even when they are not really dead. I am here now only because of his stubbornness for me, and today I know: it was love."

How Does Judaism View Euthanasia? Rabbi Zamir Cohen with a fascinating lesson on the topic that you don't want to miss: