Blairsville resident Jeff Markin has a truly inspiring story to tell, and he’s reaching new audiences with it thanks to Angel Studios of “Sound of Freedom” fame. People can view his incredible journey on the new TV show “Miracle,” available now on the Angel streaming platform.
As chronicled in “Miracle,” Markin’s life changed forever on Sept. 20, 2006, while he was living in Florida. He remembers driving himself to work, but not much after that. Certainly, he doesn’t recall collapsing at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, or having his head cradled by a security guard who prayed over him.
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What he does remember is an out-of-body experience that saw him standing in an empty funeral parlor and feeling dismay that his friends and family weren’t present to bid him farewell. Then, he saw an indescribably bright, swirling light, and felt comfort as a guardian spirit joined him and reassured him that all would be well.
Unbeknownst to Markin, he had suffered a massive heart attack. Extensive efforts to resuscitate him proved fruitless, and for 40 minutes, he was considered clinically deceased. Dr. Chauncey Crandall, a senior cardiologist, was called in for his expertise but found himself reluctant to work on what he perceived to be a lifeless body.
That was when Crandall reportedly felt and heard the command to do otherwise. As a Christian, Crandall believed it was a message from God. Twice was he told to return to the room and pray over the patient, but only once did he attempt to dismiss the missive. And so, he returned, laid his hands on Markin’s body, and prayed.
In the protests from staff that followed, another doctor was called in, and Crandall convinced him to join the attempt to save Markin. One more shock from the defibrillator was all it took for Markin’s heart to start beating again, and he began to breathe and twitch his fingers.
Days into his recovery, Markin spoke with Crandall about spirituality and what he had experienced in those 40 minutes and beyond. They prayed together, and Markin rededicated his life to the Lord. Although he’s grateful for what he calls a “second chance,” Markin sees his faith as the real miracle.
“(People) only want to focus on the death, what happened that day – that’s it. They don’t want to hear anything about my salvation, how I had to crawl before I could walk in my relationship with God. Everybody sidesteps that,” Markin said with regret, emphasizing the “peace and balance” that came later.
A talk with a coworker led him down a two-year journey of discovering who he is in Christ. Markin had many questions and found that they could be answered by devoting himself to studying scripture, finding a good church and surrounding himself with the right people.
By 2008, he experienced an oceanfront baptism and began to notice how God had always been in his life, even before he dedicated himself to getting to know Him. For example, he can now pick out certain “God moments,” or times where circumstances appeared to line up too much to be coincidence.
In one case, Markin found out that his current wife, Tricia, was working as a nurse at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. In the process of moving to Blairsville, she found an old ledger, confirming she was there the same day he was admitted.
“Her group that she was with, anytime they would hear the code for an emergency, they would stop and pray for that person down in the ER,” Markin explained, theorizing that his future wife had probably joined so many others praying for his wellbeing. “That was in ’06, and we didn’t meet until 2011.”
Today, Markin’s health is stable. He has a pacemaker and a defibrillator but has faced some challenges with a weak heart rate in the last year. Over the past two and a half months, Markin has endured two ablations to restore the normal rhythm of his heart. Despite this hardship, Markin said his cardiologist believes he is doing well.
With every obstacle life throws at him, Markin believes it must be for a reason. That isn’t to say that his faith isn’t tested – one of the most painful chapters of his life came about in the wake of losing his 4-year-old granddaughter to brain cancer.
“I can either run to God, or I can run from God. Running from God will satisfy you for the moment, but when you run to God, you will eventually come into comfort,” admitted an emotional Markin. “His plan is bigger than my plan.”
And running to God is what he hopes others will do. Markin has shared his testimony many times to show the power of salvation, and while he’s spoken publicly before, he says his proudest collaboration has been with Angel Studios.
As the name suggests, the series “Miracle” highlights true stories of people who have faced impossible odds and overcome them through ways that defy logic and hearten the spirit. Markin’s story unfolds in the eighth and final episode of the series, which was released just last month after about a year of production.
Over the course of a week, the Angel team visited Markin’s old hometown in Florida, spending a day on different aspects of production; Markin was interviewed one day, and then Crandall had his turn another day, followed by Markin’s daughter Jillian, then filming inside Palm Beach Gardens, etc.
Markin praised production employees as warm in their interactions and respectful with their handling of his experience, but most of all, he appreciated their focus on the realignment of his life and his turning toward Christ.
“I’m just hoping that it continues, that the light shines (on other people),” Markin shared.
Markin’s episode, “Hope & a Heartbeat,” can be watched online with a subscription to Angel’s streaming service, found at www.angel.com/guild/join/miracle.
