Miracle man: Man clinically dead for 20 minutes brought back to life

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- Beaumont Hospital staff is calling Michael Pruitt a "miracle man."

The 20-year-old Michigan man was technically dead for 20 minutes after he was electrocuted on the job, reported WXYZ.

Thanks to his dedicated team of doctors and nurses, he's alive with only a couple small scars.

"I remember my arms just locking up and "zzzzzz" and then just nothing," Pruitt said.

When Pruitt's metal ladder came in contact with a live wire while working out in Livonia, his heart stopped.

"Like in the movies when they're getting electrocuted like that, it felt just like that, like being shook like crazy," Pruitt said.

In most cases, the thousands of volts of electricity would have been lethal.

"You get this 20-year-old lifeless body that is perfect coming into the ER and it doesn't matter what you think should happen at that point. You just are going to do everything you can," said emergency room attending physician Dr. Angel Chudler.

Despite a full 20 minutes with no pulse, a team of doctors and nurses refused to let Pruitt go, using electric shock to save him and bring his heart back into a normal rhythm.

"We gotta get this kid back. We upped the joules a bit," Dr. Chudler said. "And you could just feel and see on the monitor that his heart rate was starting to come back."

Pruitt, who spent five days in the hospital recovering, feels like he's got some sort of super power now.

His doctors said he demonstrated hulk-like strength when he first woke up, a welcome sign of life.

"All of sudden he's just pulling at all of his tubes. And we saw all of his limbs moving which was really a good sign for us. And I kept telling his mom like trust me, this is a good sign, we're happy about this," Dr. Chudler said.

His doctors, who usually don't get a chance to follow-up with the people they save, recently reunited with Pruitt, who is now fully recovered and back to work.

The only scars Pruitt has from this accident are some small burns on his big toe, which his doctors said is rare for such an intense shock. This is a reminder of the value of knowing CPR, but also, of how important it is to be careful when working around live wires.

Pruitt said that's something he's going to take with him.