When his 27-year-old son was declared brain dead by doctors and they threatened to turn off his life support, George Pickering II was not convinced by their assessment.

Believing the hospital was planning to take his son off life support prematurely, Pickering smuggled a gun into the hospital and barricaded himself in his son’s room.

However, in a pivotal moment of the tense three-hour stand off that was started, Pickering's son, previously declared braindead, responded to his father's request to squeeze his hand.

Pickering faced charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and subsequently served a prison sentence of 11 months.

Remarkably, his son survived, regained consciousness and experienced a complete recovery.