‘It was a miracle’: Baby boy comes back to life after being pronounced dead

OWENSBORO, Ky. (WFIE) - He has not even had his first birthday yet, and Kingston Lane is showing everybody how brave he is.

As of Thursday afternoon, the boy is resting and recovering in a Louisville hospital, and 14 News was allowed a quick virtual visit.

We saw the 10-month-old boy snuggled up to a stuffed animal over Zoom.

Kingston was born in April 2020 at only 24 weeks and weighed one pound, seven ounces. He spent the first seven months of his life in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at a hospital in Louisville.

He had multiple surgeries, including both on his head and heart, but was eventually allowed to come home to Owensboro, where he has improved the last few months.

“He has proved everybody wrong multiple times,” mother Brittany Lane said. “He is amazing.”

On Saturday, Brittany noticed Kingston was sick and thought it may be stomach irritation. However, on Sunday, she says he looked lifeless and was taken to the emergency room at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital.

She recalls him being taken straight back to trauma. His head was swelling, and they suspected an issue with the shunt tube in his head.

Brittany says his heart was also giving out. Medical teams did ten rounds of chest compressions.

“They were on the ninth one, and they were like, ‘Mrs. Lane, one more time and that’s all we can do for him,’” Lane recalled. “He was completely blue, no pulse, no heartbeat and cold. Super cold.”

His time of death was marked at 5:45 p.m.

“Pretty much telling him to come back to me,” Lane told 14 News. “In that moment, I thought my son was gone. I had to have that feeling of my son just died.”

In disbelief as medical teams were walking away, Brittany says a nurse pointed out that his pulse returned.

“He squeezed my finger,” Brittany smiled. “It was — I really don’t have any words. It was a miracle. It really was.”

Brittany shared with 14 News that Owensboro doctors were able to remove some of the fluid from Kingston’s head before he was flown to Louisville on Sunday night. His broken shunt has been replaced.

So far, Brittany says there are no signs of new brain damage.

“I can see it in his eyes,” she explained. “I can see that he loves me. He knows I’m mom, and he knows I’m here.”

Although the little guy is still in the ICU, Kingston came off the vent on Wednesday.

Brittany got to hold him Thursday.

She is hoping he will he moved out of that unit in the coming days.