A US teenager claims that he met Jesus after collapsing and losing consciousness on his birthday.

High school football player Zack Clements had no heartbeat for 20 minutes after suffering sudden cardiac arrest during a PE class at his school. He was rushed to hospital, and doctors were about to declare him dead when his pulse returned.

The 17-year-old woke up in an intensive care unit several days later, and says that he met Jesus while he was unconscious.

"When I was out those 20 minutes, I saw a man who had long ruffled hair and kind of a thick beard, and it didn't take me long to realise that that was Jesus," Clements told local CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.

"I went up to him and he put his hand on my shoulder and he told me everything would be alright and not to worry."

The young man's family insist he experienced a miracle.

According to CBS, his mother, Teresa, believes her son's recovery was down to divine intervention. "I'm just glad he [God] decided to let me have my baby back," she told reporters.

"For him to wake up and tell us something he experienced like that. It's just you can't explain it. It's not humanly possible to explain it," his father, Billy, added.

The family have begun an online donation fund to go towards Clements' medical bills. Set up by Teresa's cousin, the You Caring page says "GOD IS SO GOOD!!"

"Billy & Teresa aren't asking for "poor pitiful me's". They are simply just asking for prayers for their AMAZING son!"

The Clements have so far raised over $10,000.

The stories of those who claim to have gone to heaven or met Jesus while critically ill have come under particular scrutiny in recent months, after Alex Malarkey, who co-wrote a book about his experiences in heaven after a car accident in 2004, retracted his story.

Malarkey wrote an open letter to booksellers in which he took aim at other accounts of "heaven tourism" and said he made up his story to get attention.

"People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible," he said.

Last year, Heaven is for Real, telling the story of Colton Burpo, who claims to have met Jesus when he had his appendix removed in an emergency operation, made more than $100 million in the Box Office.