Therapy Dog’s Gentle Touch Woke Woman Up From Coma In Stunning ‘Miracle’ Recovery
Nov 03, 2025 by apost team
Scrunchie, a golden retriever therapy dog, captured hearts across the country after helping a Florida woman awaken from a medically induced coma. On Oct. 22, 2025, Scrunchie joined doctors, nurses, and loved ones at Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines for a press conference celebrating the miraculous recovery of Priscilla Timmons.
Months earlier, on Mar. 13, 2025, Timmons’s life changed in an instant. While at home, she sent a desperate text message to her mother asking for help before collapsing in her bathroom. She had suffered a massive pulmonary embolism that led to three cardiac arrests and multi-organ failure. Doctors feared the worst.
According to her GoFundMe page, after the third cardiac arrest, medical staff told her family about her condition, “and sadly reported she had a 10% chance of survival.” Dr. Daniel Mayer, chief of critical care for Memorial Healthcare System, confirmed during the Oct. 22, 2025, press conference just how grim things appeared.
“In the ICU, she deteriorated and went into cardiac arrest,” Mayer said. “Thanks to our ICU team and their refusal to give up despite no cardiac contractility for 40 minutes, we achieved (resumption of cardiac activity).” For Timmons’s loved ones, that moment of regained heartbeat was the first glimmer of hope. But her journey had only begun.
Over the next 21 days, she battled severe complications as her body fought to recover. Her organs began to stabilize, yet she was placed in a medically induced coma to aid her healing process.
Though she couldn’t open her eyes or move, Timmons later revealed that she could hear the voices around her, recalling: “I was like, oh my gosh, I’m in a coma. And then I realized, wow, people can actually hear when you’re in a coma.” What came next was nothing short of extraordinary.
Then came Scrunchie, a visitor who would change everything. In detail, her handler placed a treat near Timmons’s motionless hand. As Scrunchie sniffed around, his nose brushed against her skin, followed by gentle nuzzling. In that instant, something remarkable happened.
“I then felt her paw, and that’s when I was able to move my fingers and lift my hand off of the bed and into the air,” Timmons told reporters, adding, “As a huge dog lover, this gave me all the motivation to reach out to her as much as possible.”
When Timmons finally opened her eyes, her family and the medical staff were overcome with emotion. Her first sight of Scrunchie confirmed that her “Princess Charming” had truly helped bring her back.
After leaving the hospital, Timmons’s road to full recovery continued. Though she experienced a scare when she returned to the emergency room months later, tests showed her lungs were completely clear.
“My mind was playing tricks on me. I preferred to be on the safe side,” she said, continuing, “I was informed my lungs were a hundred percent clear…as if nothing ever happened to me, which gave me all the peace of mind I needed.”
As she returned home, Timmons dedicated herself to turning her experience into a source of hope for others by launching an Instagram account, Faith Flows Strong, to raise awareness of blood clots and share her story.
She stated:
“In my eyes, faith and medicine go hand in hand. ... There’s the science aspect which consists of studies and medicine to treat us when we get sick. Then there’s the faith aspect which helps give you hope to lean on. God told me to fight so I did with all my heart.”
Vowing to “not let this miracle go to waste,” Timmons expressed that she would continue to advocate for awareness and gratitude.
apost.com
Miracles can happen in the most unexpected ways. Have you ever experienced the healing power of an animal? Let us know, and then pass this on to remind others that hope and faith can make all the difference!