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The speculative science of cryonics – well, a version of it – has come in from the cold for Justin Smith of Pennsylvania.

Cryonics is driven by the idea that people who are incurably ill today can freeze themselves and wait for revival some time in the future, when a cure for the terminal disease they're suffering from will have been found. Of course, it's a complex process, but hundreds of individuals around the world have already placed their faith in it.

It is in this context that the case of the 26-year-old Smith appears more interesting. One night, while on his way home from a local bar, Smith passed out in the snow. He was found the next morning by his father, Don Smith, who called emergency services. Smith, who had been lying in the snow for about 12 hours, was declared dead by the paramedics.

At the hospital, the doctor in charge, Gerald Coleman, differed. Using an elaborate procedure called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which involves removing the person's blood, warming it, oxygenating it and pumping it back into the person, Smith was restored back to life.

Smith woke up from his coma in two weeks and, though disoriented and weak, had suffered no mental damage. He lost all his toes and his pinkies which had to be amputated due to frost bite, but is otherwise perfectly healthy.

On Monday, almost a year after his surprising revival, Smith held a press conference to thank the doctor.