Ruben Valdez’s Miraculous Recovery: Lompoc Family Celebrates Love and Resilience

LOMPOC, Calif. – A family in Lompoc is celebrating the remarkable recovery of husband, father, and grandfather Ruben Valdez.

Renee and Ruben Valdez marked their 49th wedding anniversary in a hospital room, where Ruben was in a coma after dying and being revived three times.

“Everybody was waiting for me to keel over, and it was him,” said Renee. “He doesn’t smoke, never has. He’s not a drinker.”

Although Ruben did not fully awaken that day, the family played his favorite music, and he responded from within the coma—baffling medical professionals.

“Dad had back surgery, and shortly after, he suffered a massive heart attack,” said the couple’s daughter, Jeannine Valdez.

Doctors gave Ruben a grim prognosis, saying he would never walk or talk again. However, he is now on the road to full recovery at the Lompoc Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

“I’m up and running and ready to go camping and fishing,” Ruben said.

The remarkable couple met when they were both 19 and married in their backyard.

“He told all his friends, ‘I will never be with a woman who was married or had a child.’ I checked both of those boxes for him,” said Renee.

Ruben saved for years to buy Renee a small wedding band, but the ring was lost during the Goleta floods in 1998.

“I remember sitting there, pushing and brushing the water into this hole, and it was just getting higher and higher,” said Jeannine. “But he always had this calmness about him, making you feel like everything was going to be okay.”

Now, the family is planning to buy Renee a new wedding ring, and the couple intends to renew their vows for their 50th anniversary.

“I was there. I heard you. I just couldn’t move,” said Ruben. “Yeah, I’m not in a coma anymore.”