by Annette Maraist

Created on: August 29, 2009   Last Updated: August 30, 2009

This is a true story which happened to a friend of mine.

A Reason To Believe

On September 20, 2006 Jeff Markin was driving to work, completely unaware that very soon he would die. It was an ordinary beginning to a day which would turn out to be the most astounding of his life.

Markin- a 53-year old mechanic- was driving to work when he began to feel ill. He called his boss who advised him to go to the hospital. Although he remembers nothing of the trip, Jeff managed to drive himself to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Arriving at the hospital, Markin took out his wallet, and dropped dead from a massive heart attack. Doctors and nurses frantically raced to save his life, but all of their attempts failed. Jeff had no heartbeat for 40 minutes.

Finally, the emergency room staff paged Dr. Chauncy Crandall, a well-known cardiologist, who was making his rounds that day. Dr. Crandall is a Christian who believes in the power of prayer. He believes in the power of faith and healing. Besides working at the hospital, Dr. Crandall practices at the Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Jupiter, Florida.

Dr. Crandall explains, " The reason I pray for people is because I found early in my trained practice that there were miracles, unexplained healings."

When Dr. Crandall walked into the emergency room, he discovered that "his (Jeff's) arms and legs were black with death, just ugly." He told the emergency room staff, "This guy's dead. If you get him back now he'll be brain dead." As Dr. Crandall turned to leave, he felt God telling him tp pray for Markin. "A voice told me to turn around and pray for that man. I looked down at the body, and I said, 'Lord, what can I pray for this man? He's gone.' All of a sudden, these words came out 'Father, I cry out for this man's soul; if he does not know You, raise him from the dead.' After praying for Jeff Crandall requested that he be shocked once more.

This time a flawless heartbeat came back. A few days after being in intensive care, Markin awoke to see his daughter at his side. He woke up to a new chance at life, one that can't be accounted for by medicine or science.

Says Dr. Crandall, "You are speaking to a scientist, a cardiologist, someone who loves medicine. I've never, ever seen this. There are always people who do not believe these events, and I will just tell them that it did happen. It was a real story, a real life that was restored."

Before his heart attack, Jeff did not live a life which followed

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