A true story happened to a father when doctors told him that his son was brain dead.
How far will you go to save your child's life?
Show key points
- George Pickering, a working-class man from England, valued determination and family support from an early age.
- When his son was declared brain-dead, Pickering refused the hospital’s decision to remove life support.
- Acting on parental instinct, Pickering brought a gun to the hospital and held staff at bay to prevent them from ending his son’s life.
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- The confrontation ended without injury, but Pickering was arrested and later served 11 months in prison.
- Miraculously, his son awoke from the coma and eventually made a full recovery, validating Pickering’s actions.
- Despite the legal consequences, Pickering’s actions were driven by deep parental love and belief in his son’s recovery.
- Today, father and son work together on an electrical engineering project, cherishing the second chance they were given.
In 2015, George Pickering faced this question when a Texas hospital announced that his son had "brain dead." Instead of allowing health care providers to remove his son from life support, Pickering pulled out a gun instead.
Who is George Pickering?
George Pickering was born in Macclesfield, England on September 15, 1895.
His father worked hard in the stone quarry to earn money for the family.
However, Pickering grew up quickly, and began working as a wagon-boy in a railway company when he was still just a boy.
He was determined to help support his family and make his way down the railroad to become a firefighter.
Although his job was arduous and dirty, sweeping coal into train engines, all those years of hard work made Pickering a strong, working-class man.
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Moreover, he learned the value of determination and supporting the family no matter what the circumstances.
What happened to him and his son?
George Pickering III, Pickering's son, had a history of seizures and was hospitalized after suffering a stroke. Pickering III was declared brain-dead, and the hospital wanted to separate Pickering's 27-year-old son from life support.
But to prevent that from happening, Pickering's third father barricaded himself in his son's room with a gun, said, "I'm going to kill you all," and then added to the doctors: "Don't think this is the only weapon I have."
Pickering, who was 59 at the time, later said he knew the hospital's diagnosis about his son was wrong, based on parental intuition, and despite the risks, he did not let his son die.
Confrontation
Hospital staff called the police to report the presence of an armed man in the building, and although George Pickering was quickly disarmed, he refused to surrender, causing a confrontation that lasted hours at the facility.
No bullet was fired, but the decision to disconnect the life support devices from Pickering's son was never implemented. Eventually, Pickering surrendered.
In custody, George Pickering was charged on two counts of aggravated assault with a lethal weapon. One charge was dropped, and Pickering spent 11 months in prison for the incident.
"It was about love"
The father's intuition was very correct, as his son woke up and fully recovered. When Pickering III was asked what his father had done, he later said: "The law was broken, but this was done for all the right reasons. I'm here now because of that. What drove my father to break the law was his love for me."
The son now works with his father on their small electrical engineering project happily.
