He Collapsed on the Court—Then Prayer and a Miracle Gave Him a Second Chance

On the morning of July 7, 2021, Jeffrey Tanapu did what he had done countless times before—he laced up his sneakers and headed to the gym to play basketball with friends. It was a routine Wednesday morning filled with laughter, competition, and the familiar rhythm of a weekly game.

No one in that gym had any idea that within minutes, life would hang in the balance.

After finishing a game, Jeff suddenly collapsed to the floor.

At first, confusion rippled through the room. Then panic followed.

“Is there any medical personnel here?” someone shouted.

From across the gym, a retired nurse named Hillary Deskins heard the cry. Without hesitation, she stepped forward.

“I’m a nurse,” she said, rushing to Jeff’s side.

What she saw stopped her cold.

Jeff had no pulse. He wasn’t breathing. His face had turned purple.

He was clinically dead.

When Seconds Matter

Hillary immediately began CPR. But Jeff was a large, muscular man, and compressing his chest proved difficult. She pushed with everything she had, but she knew she needed help.

One of Jeff’s friends knelt beside her.

“I showed him exactly where to put his hands,” Hillary later recalled. “I told him, ‘Push as hard as you can. Try to break a rib if you have to.’”

Another friend called 911.

The room, once filled with bouncing basketballs and friendly banter, had transformed into a battleground between life and death.

Despite their efforts, Jeff remained unresponsive.

Someone ran for a defibrillator.

Hillary grabbed it, placed the pads, and pressed the button.

Everyone held their breath.

Then—movement.

Jeff gasped.

Not fully conscious. Not fully back. But something had shifted.

Hope had entered the room.

A Cry to Heaven

As they waited for paramedics, Hillary found herself doing more than administering medical care.

She prayed.

“Oh God, please,” she whispered.

She didn’t have polished words. She didn’t have a long speech. Just a desperate plea.

Jeff’s friends gathered around him and began praying too.

In that gym—amid sweat, fear, and uncertainty—faith filled the air.

Scripture tells us in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

That morning, people gathered.

And they called on the name of Jesus.

The Widowmaker

Jeff was rushed to Baptist Hospital in Louisville. Doctors quickly confirmed what had happened.

He had suffered what is known as a “widowmaker” heart attack—a massive blockage in the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. Outside of a hospital setting, survival rates are devastatingly low. Nearly 90% of people who experience this type of cardiac arrest do not make it.

Even fewer survive with intact brain function.

Time is everything in cardiac arrest. Each minute without oxygen drastically reduces survival chances.

By all medical logic, Jeff should not have survived.

And if he had, he likely would have faced severe neurological damage.

But something different happened.

Faith Rose Before Fear

When Jeff’s wife, Vicky, received the news, her world shook.

Their pastor, Stephen Frazier, was quickly notified. He remembers the moment vividly.

“When I heard her voice, faith just rose up inside me,” he said. “I said, ‘Jeff’s not going anywhere.’”

Instead of driving to the hospital in fear, Pastor Stephen drove in praise.

He prayed boldly. He declared God’s promises. He sang worship songs in the car. He thanked God for Jeff’s life before he even knew the outcome.

It wasn’t denial.

It was belief.

Hebrews 11:1 reminds us, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

That day, faith filled the gap between what doctors feared and what God could do.

A Hospital Room Miracle

When Pastor Stephen arrived at the hospital, he braced himself for machines, tubes, and uncertainty.

Instead, he found Jeff awake.

Alert.

Talking.

Joking.

Jeff later said his biggest concern at the moment was whether he had made his last basketball shot.

Doctors were stunned.

Cardiologists admitted that cases like Jeff’s are incredibly rare. Survival from a widowmaker outside a hospital—with full cognitive function—is almost unheard of.

One physician said plainly: “He shouldn’t be here.”

But he was.

And he was himself.

Doctors called it extraordinary.

Jeff calls it a miracle.

A Second Chance

Jeff made a full recovery.

Within weeks, he was back home. Eventually, he returned to the basketball court.

The same place where he collapsed.

But something had changed.

Not just his heart physically.

His heart spiritually.

Jeff says the experience drew him closer to God than ever before.

“When people gather in Jesus’ name, He’s there,” Jeff said. “Seeing the power of that prayer—people lifting me up before God—it means everything.”

He reflects on that morning often.

He knows how close he came to not coming home.

He knows how slim the odds were.

And he knows Who he believes gave him another chance.

Psalm 118:17 says, “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.”

Jeff is living that verse.

The Power of Prayer

Skeptics may point to quick CPR and defibrillation. And yes—those were critical. Hillary’s training mattered. The defibrillator mattered. Immediate action mattered.

But Jeff and those who were there believe something greater was at work.

They believe God orchestrated every detail:

• A retired nurse in the gym at that exact moment

• A defibrillator available within seconds

• Friends who knew to pray

• A pastor declaring promises

• Doctors ready to intervene

Sometimes miracles don’t defy medicine.

Sometimes they work through it.

Hillary later reflected, “It had nothing to do with anything we did. God saw fit to bring him back.”

And Jeff agrees.

“It was 100% God.”

Living Differently

Since that day, Jeff says he approaches life differently.

When challenges come, he doesn’t panic the way he once might have.

Instead, he prays.

Sometimes, he even jokes with God.

“I can’t wait to see how you’re going to take care of this one, Lord.”

There’s a deeper trust now.

A quiet confidence.

A gratitude that colors ordinary mornings.

Because every morning now feels like a gift.

James 4:14 reminds us how fragile life is: “You do not even know what will happen tomorrow.”

Jeff knows that truth firsthand.

And instead of living in fear, he lives in faith.

What This Means for Us

Jeff’s story is more than a survival story.

It’s a reminder.

A reminder that life can change in seconds.

A reminder that prayer is powerful.

A reminder that God is near—even in gymnasiums and ordinary Wednesday mornings.

It challenges us to ask:

• Who are we praying for?

• What promises are we declaring?

• Are we living like each day is a second chance?

Miracles don’t always look like lightning from heaven.

Sometimes they look like a gasp after defibrillation.

Sometimes they look like a man joking in a hospital bed.

Sometimes they look like a basketball game resumed months later.

But make no mistake—God still moves.

A Court, A Prayer, A Miracle

On July 7, 2021, Jeffrey Tanapu’s heart stopped.

But God wasn’t finished with him.

In a gym filled with panic, prayer rose.

In a hospital filled with statistics, hope triumphed.

In a moment that could have ended a life, faith opened a new chapter.

Today, when Jeff steps onto the court, it’s not just about the game.

It’s about gratitude.

It’s about purpose.

It’s about knowing that the same God who answered desperate prayers that morning is still faithful today.

And Jeff plans to use every extra day he’s been given to honor the One who gave it.

Because sometimes the greatest victories aren’t scored with a basketball.

They’re written by grace.