A DESPERATE dad took a gun into hospital to wield off doctors who tried to switch off his “brain dead” son’s life support — and during the stand-off his son squeezed his hand.

The Sun reported medics kept the man alive after the gesture proved he was mentally functioning — and he is now recovering and doing well, thanks to his dad’s rogue actions.

George Pickering II was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and jailed after marching into Tomball Regional Medical Centre in the US state of Texas with a gun.

The doting dad felt he had no option after doctors declared there was no hope for his son George III, who suffered a massive stroke in January.

Medics had ordered a “terminal wean”, which would have slowly taken life support away from the 27-year-old until he died, but George II wouldn’t allow it to happen.

Pickering’s ex-wife and other son had agreed, and the young man was put on the organ donor list.

But the 59-year-old told KPRC: “They were moving too fast. The hospital, the nurses, the doctors. I knew if I had three or four hours that night, I would know whether George was brain dead.”

When Pickering Sr finally got the answer he needed from his son, he handed himself over to authorities peacefully after a three-hour stand-off.

He admitted being drunk and aggressive but said he only behaved as he did as he knew his son wasn’t ready to die.

“During that three hours, George squeezed my hand three or four times on command,” he said.

His son is now out of the coma and fully recovered after a miraculous turn of events.

Pickering Sr was released earlier this month after the charges against him were eventually dropped.

His son said: “There was a law broken, but it was broken for all the right reasons. I’m here now because of it. It was love, it was love.”

Tomball Regional Medical Centre said in a statement: “When a patient’s condition makes them unable to participate in their own care, the appropriate substitute decision-maker has the right to decide whether or not they will move forward with a recommended care plan.

“However, that decision must be expressed in a way that does not endanger other patients or caregivers. Due to strict privacy laws, we are unable to comment about individual patients.”

This story originally appeared in The Sun.

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