Career Cut Short by Sudden Death, Then God Resurrected It!

It was a typical autumn evening in Lawton, Oklahoma. Courtney Devot had just finished her chores and was heading to bed when her phone rang. On the other end was her cousin, calling with news that Courtney’s 17-year-old son, Kobe, had been in an accident.

“The way she said it, it just didn’t seem like a serious accident,” Courtney recalled. “It sounded like a little fender bender. It didn’t feel urgent.”

Courtney immediately got in her car and drove to the scene. Nothing could have prepared her for what she found.

“I didn’t realize how bad it was until I moved a certain way and saw the truck upside down,” she said. “I completely lost it. It was something a mom should never see. All I could think was, I need to be with him. I just need to get to him.”

Kobe’s truck had been struck by a speeding minivan that crossed the median. His cousins, who were riding with him, suffered only minor scratches. 

Kobe, however, was pinned inside the vehicle and unconscious. Paramedics arrived quickly, pulled him from the wreckage, and airlifted him to the nearest hospital.

“I just kept praying, ‘Lord, protect him. Please be with him,’” Courtney said.

Meanwhile, Courtney’s husband, Steve, was driving home from a work trip when he received the frantic call. Courtney was already on her way to the hospital—and Steve needed to get there immediately.

“I was speeding, just praying, ‘Lord, please tell me he’s okay,’” Steve said. “I knew right then it was serious.”

Doctors soon confirmed Kobe’s condition: a spinal cord injury, several broken ribs, and punctured lungs. Emergency surgery was required. Before the operation began, Courtney and Steve were allowed to see their son.

“They had tape on his eyes, and I remember seeing the blood,” Courtney said. “But that was my baby. I felt like I couldn’t protect him that day.”

As surgeons worked, Courtney and Steve reached out to family and friends, asking for prayer. Hours passed. Then the doctor came out with devastating news.

Kobe was gone.

“A part of me left right there,” Courtney said. “I felt like I couldn’t go on. All I could think was, Did I tell Kobe I loved him before he left the house? Does he know how much I love him?”

Steve described the moment he saw his son.

“His body was ice cold. His eyes were wide open—no life,” he said. “I was listening to his heart. My wife was on the floor crying. It didn’t feel real. There was no way he was gone.”

Doctors explained that Kobe had too much blood in his lungs and, despite their efforts, they couldn’t save him.

“I couldn’t take it,” Steve said. “I went outside, sat in my car, and cried. I told God, ‘Take me instead.’”

Courtney stayed behind with her son. She and her mother began praying over Kobe, saying their final goodbyes.

“I just kept pleading with God,” Courtney said. “I didn’t care—just give him back. Show me something. Kobe, if you can hear me, please show something.”

As Courtney told Kobe how much she loved him, she noticed a slight movement. A nurse explained it could be a reflex. Then Courtney’s mother spoke.

“Granny loves you,” she said.

Kobe twitched again.

A nurse leaned close and said, “Kobe, if you can hear me, stick out your tongue.”
He did.

Steve received a text from Courtney telling him to come back immediately. When he arrived, nurses and doctors stood frozen in disbelief.

“She told him, ‘Stick out your tongue,’ and he did,” Steve said. “Everybody just froze. This kid was gone. Then suddenly they started working on him—hooking him back up to machines, turning everything back on.”

On October 27, 2024, at 6:38 a.m.—two and a half hours after he had died on the operating table—Kobe Devot was alive.

“I knew God was real,” Courtney said, “but that day I saw something totally different. I don’t know what God has planned for Kobe, but He gave him a second chance at life.”

“Once you see it for yourself, right in front of you, it makes you a true believer,” Steve stated.

“God heard the prayers—from so many people—and He brought him back.”

Kobe was placed in a medically induced coma to stabilize his condition. Over the next week, he underwent two additional surgeries on his spine and lungs. After several weeks in recovery, he woke up.

“I’m just grateful God brought me back,” Kobe said. 

“It’s hard to put into words.”

Kobe spent three months in rehabilitation, relearning how to talk, eat, and move. Though paralyzed from the waist down, he maintains a positive outlook. Despite the accident and long recovery, he graduated from high school on time.

Steve and Courtney openly share their son’s story, giving all glory to God for what they call an undeniable miracle.

“I think back to how I was at the beginning of the accident and how far God has brought me,” Kobe said. “I’m much more of a believer now. 

“Keep your faith in the Lord.” Steve said. “Keep praying. God is still performing miracles.”
Courtney agrees.

“Never give up faith in God,” she said. “Once you pray about something, let it go and let God handle it. I don’t know what Kobe’s purpose is, but I know there’s a reason God gave him back to us.”