Posted on 07/15/2026 6:03:45 PM PDT by TexasKamaAina
A 28-year-old Pensacola Navy veteran is getting a second chance to celebrate his favorite holiday this 4th of July.
Just a few weeks ago, Ethan Preseau's family was planning his funeral.
But now, the family is celebrating something they feared they'd never see -- his recovery.
"It's not supposed to be the father burying the child," father Jeffrey Preseau said. "It's supposed to be the other way around."
The funeral was planned, the American flag was folded, and Ethan's family -- and nurses -- lined the hallways of Baptist Hospital.
They were ready for Ethan's honor walk -- a tradition held for patients declared brain dead. A final farewell before organ donation.
"When they did the brain MRI, the MRI showed that the thalamus was black and dead," stepmother Denice Preseau said. "So we had absolutely no hope."
At the beginning of June, Ethan and his girlfriend Piper Wade moved to Pensacola to build a life. The couple was moving in.
Ethan went to get suitcases from the truck. When he didn't come back inside, Piper went to check on him.
That's when she found him lifeless on the ground.
"You don't want to see someone that you love in that state," Piper said. "So I just freaked out and I immediately -- I don't know CPR, but I understand what it is, so I tried to do that for a second. But I realized I don't know what I'm doing, so I ran inside as fast as possible and I called 911 and they were there so fast. Maybe in like 30 seconds they were there."
Ethan was rushed to the hospital. Doctor's told the family he had an infection in his heart.
As the days went by, his family started losing hope.
Piper had one request: give Ethan 10 days -- a fighting chance.
On the final day, the nurses took Ethan off of life support and his family said goodbye.
"We wanted to do it together," Piper said. "And I was like, I don't know how I'm going to go from like, I just wanted to start a life with someone to now all of that is gone, you know? It's like having like the rug just taken out from under you."
But then, a phone call from the hospital changed everything.
"When we walked in and saw that, I immediately got the nurse. ... And he's like, 'Well, maybe he's just doing this movement, you know, from this and that,'" Jeffrey said. "And it was so funny. He came in. He's like, 'Ethan, Ethan, stick your tongue out for me.' And he goes and stuck his tongue out and he turned and looked at me and his eyes was the size of silver dollars. And he's like, 'Hold on, I got to go get two nurses to witness this.' So the two nurses he got were two of the nurses that did the honor walk with us. And he came in, asked him the same thing, stick out his tongue, and they started crying. They're like, 'Oh my gosh, this is a miracle.'"
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Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Great story. I’m certain prayers were lifted for him, even if no one knew it. God told believers ‘heal the sick, cleanse the leper, cast out demons, RAISE THE DEAD; freely you have received, freely give’
Amen
Other than now missing a few organs, hes fine.
Prayer works.
Just like me?
Prayer works especially when it is pointed at someone else.
Having survived an NDE, I know you’re correct.
Trust the medicos right ?
Clot-shot related perhaps?
I would love to hear your story! God bless you!!!!!!
Sounds like my last hangover.
You got that right !!
Yeah, but is Ethan up and walking around now?
I think that I like Piper like she liked Ethan like.
I rally like the like that Ethan like was like in a miracle.
Like me or not, I liked IKE!
He’s lucky they didn’t start cutting out his organs for transplants.🙄
Atta boy, Bat!
(I do like a happy ending.)
Like, when are we going to speak in a normal way?
“You know,” It’s like having to fill in a soundless moment with
any thing like, “you know.” LIKE!”
You know what I’M SAYING?
as the Bible correctly says, the life of the flesh is in the blood.
therefore, you aren’t dead (no matter what they say) until your heart has stopped beating—or circulating blood. for a long time. permanently.
Good thing he wasn’t an organ donor.
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