DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (WKMG) – An Air Force veteran considers his survival “unbelievable” and says he’s “very lucky” after he died for almost an hour at a Florida hospital.
William Bacelieri, an Air Force Special Operations veteran and recent cancer survivor, began experiencing chest pains last week. He went to the hospital at AdventHealth Daytona Beach to get checked out, only to face a life-altering situation.
“Of course it would change your outlook on life. That don’t happen every day,” William Bacelieri said.
While at the hospital, the veteran died for about 45 to 50 minutes. He went into cardiac arrest three times while doctors and nurses performed compressions and repeatedly shocked his heart. He also underwent open-heart surgery before he was revived.
During the time he was dead, William Bacelieri says he had a vision or dream.
“I showed up in the jungle. There were vines and this gold wall. I’m standing there, staring at it, when this huge tiger face imprinted its face into the wall. I could feel a force of wind, and it wouldn’t let me in,” he said.
Doctors say that surviving after 45 minutes of being dead is extremely uncommon, but for the Bacelieri family, the surprises didn’t end there.
“The doctor came in and said, ‘Now, be prepared because he might have some brain damage,’” said the veteran’s wife, Kathy Bacelieri. “Then, when he started moving all his parts and started talking and knew what was going on and was coherent, none of us could believe it.”
William Bacelieri calls his survival “unbelievable” and says he was “very lucky.”
The doctors and nurses who worked to revive him say it’s a moment that will stick with them.
“He’ll never forget that, and we will never forget him. Certain patients never leave us. We think about them all the time, and he definitely is one,” said Terri Shelton, a nurse in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
William Bacelieri is still recovering at the hospital but hopes to be home by Valentine’s Day. When asked about his future plans, he said, “I’d like to mow my yard.”
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