Who is Barbara Guthrie Lay? Former Miss Virginia declared dead from Covid-19, comes 'back to life' minutes later

A former Miss Virginia who was declared dead from Covid-19 on December 25, 2020, came back to life, reports say. Miss Virginia 1958, Barbara Guthrie Lay was taken to a hospital in Georgia by her husband on December 20, 2020, after she developed breathing troubles after contracting the coronavirus, local ABC-TV affiliate WSET said. The 82-year-old who lives in Roswell, Georgia with her husband Tony Lay was pronounced dead by the hospital on New Year's Eve. The couple believes that Barbara contracted the virus from a neighbor. Tony hadn’t been allowed in her room in the ICU and wasn’t at the Roswell hospital at the time, the Martinsville Bulletin of Virginia said. The Lays have been married for six years.

The hospital first dialed Barbara’s son, Thom Kelley, a doctor, and informed him about the heartbreaking news, and then he contacted Tony. Tony was then informing their relatives about Barbara's death. But soon, Kelley received another phone call from the hospital minutes later saying his mother now had a pulse again, added the Bulletin.

Tony said the remarkable turn-of-events taught him at least one thing. “I have always loved my wife,” he told the TV station. “I just didn’t realize exactly how much until this happened and that I can’t live without her. As a physician, I will say without hesitation there is only one word for what has happened over the past week — a miracle,” Kelley told the Virginia outlet. Tony told ABC, “I went from being miserable and brokenhearted to overjoyed.”

An old pal from Virginia, Howard Huff, said he planned on getting a copy of the Bulletin’s story about Barbara to show her. “Barbara has not seen a spotlight she didn’t like,” he quipped. “She has this incredible will to live and always says she plans to live until she’s 101.”

Soon the news made its way to social media and people started talking about it. As one Internet user said, "You are literally not dead unless you are cold (or warm, if you happen to drown/hypothermia) and dead. If your heart stops but the medical team revives you, you did not die." Another one referred to the latest Tanya Roberts case. Roberts, who was an actor was reportedly dead, but now claims suggest that she is alive. He wrote, "Like Tanya Roberts."

One said, "...#BREAKING...Former Miss #VIrginia Barbara Guthrie Lay who won the title in 1958 came back to life after declaring dead by Doctors at a #Georgia hospital she was diagnosed with #Covid19 symptoms was admitted on Dec 20..its X'Mas miracle Long Live Barbara #Amen!"