There's something pretty awesome about this story. It's like a Christmas miracle if a Christmas miracle can include booze, a gun, and lots of love.

George Pickering III, 27, was in the worst possible shape, after suffering a stroke, he was hooked up to a life support machine and his doctors had given up all hope. Declared "brain dead," his mother and brother made the decision to remove him from life support. An organ donor organization was even contacted.

Well, George Pickering II, didn't much like that decision. The Texan didn't agree with his ex wife that their son should be taken off life support. He thought everyone was moving way too fast. So he made a drink induced decision because that's the only kind of decision you can make when you're drunk.

He was also armed. George had decided that he was going to give his son a chance to live. No matter what. He wanted to give his son a few hours, even if that's all he could offer his son. He entered the hospital room, pulled out his gun, and threatened everyone to leave the room. George's other son quickly disarmed his father but George still barricaded himself in his son's hospital room, falsely claiming he might have other weapons.

Three hours of mayhem ensued. The hospital quickly contacted police, reportedly saying “we have a family member with a gun.” A SWAT team was called to break into the room. George wanted to give his son every second that he could so even as the SWAT team entered he held his son's hand.

Insert miracle here. Just as the SWAT team entered, George felt his son squeeze his hand. Even as the police carted him away he kept telling anyone and everyone that his son had squeezed his hand. The SWAT team reportedly had their own doctor who plainly saw that the young man who had been declared brain dead was alive. George was making eye contact and responding to commands.

This case has made the entire medical community reconsider what "brain dead" actually means. Nah. Just kidding. In a written statement to the Washington Post, the hospital said exactly what you'd expect a hospital to say:

Physicians use their medical knowledge and experience to develop a patient’s plan of care and these actions save lives each day. When a patient’s condition makes them unable to participate in their own care, the appropriate substitute decision-maker has the right to decide whether or not they will move forward with a recommended care plan. However, that decision must be expressed in a way that does not endanger other patients or caregivers.

But here's the happy ending: George III made a full recovery while his father was sentenced to ten months in prison. But last month his father was released from prison and they spent a wonderful Christmas together. Father and son reportedly now run an electrical engineering business together and are even building a house.

“Everything good that made me a man is because of that man sitting next to me,” he reportedly said. “There was a law broken, but it was broken for all the right reasons. I’m here now because of it. It was love.”

So, in the end it's kinda' like a Hallmark Christmas special if Hallmark Christmas specials were sponsored by the NRA and Smirnoff.