LITTLE ROCK, Ark – A central Arkansas family has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season after their dad woke up after being pronounced dead.
Hung on a chain around her neck, Diana Decker clenches a ring a little more than normal, knowing just days ago, she could have lost it forever.
“He’s everything I have. My best friend. My husband,” Decker said.
Diana’s husband Dirk was checked into Baptist Health Medical Center last week after experiencing chest pains.
“He was having trouble breathing,” Decker said.
The 53-year-old had had a heart attack just a month ago and his family wanted to make sure he was ok.
Doctors had him stable and sedated.
His wife went home to grab a few things leaving her daughter with her dad. Then everything took a turn for the worse.
“I just remember looking up at that screen and just seeing him code,” Miya, Dirk and Diana’s daughter, said.
Dirk Decker was pronounced dead.
“I was more worried about my children,” Diana Decker said “What do I tell them? How are we going to do without him?”
“They were all just saying, ‘it’s ok, it’s ok’ and of course I just broke down crying,” Miya Decker said.
The family says it was 20 minutes of pure agony and then doctors found a pulse.
“I was like, ‘So my husband’s alive?’,” Diana Decker said.
“We just looked at each other and we started crying like, he’s back,” Miya Decker said.
Hand in hand the three touched palms once again.
“When he first squeezed my hand for the first time, it was very emotional,” Diana Decker said.
“I thought I never got to say goodbye, but I got to talk to him again and say how I felt,” Miya Decker said.
To this day there is still little explanation for how this all happened. The family said it’s all Dirk.
“He is one strong guy, let me tell you,” Miya Decker said. “I’ve known that from the start, he’s one strong guy.”
“My husband came back to me, it’s an unbelievable miracle,” Diana Decker said.
Dirk Decker is now awake and talking.
The family says he still has a long road to recovery but are thankful they get to spend more moments with their dad and husband.