Last year I found a walnut under the earth when I was weeding. It had a small pale green root (or stalk? Who knows?) sticking out of one end so I took it and planted it in a pot. A few weeks later I had a tiny tree with a few delicate leaves on the top, so I transplanted it into the forest area of the garden and put a little fence around it.
Along came autumn and the leaves dropped off and all winter it’s looked like just a stick. I thought it was dead, but I’ve learned to wait (gardening teaches you patience), and over the last few days, look! It’s producing leaves again!
It still astonishes me that we humans have no way of telling if a particular seed is dead or alive. We just have to plant it, care for it, and nourish it. We can’t force it and can’t predict it.
Similarly, it amazes me how dead so many little trees appear in the winter. You have no idea which of them are still alive. Again it’s best to wait, to care for them, and watch out for signs of life in the Spring.
I think there’s a lesson here for when we think about how to recover from an illness, or even how to stay as healthy as possible – it’s about creating the right environment.
For we humans, we need to create the best conditions for people to recover and thrive, and that includes a healthy physical environment (as free from pollutants as possible), clean water, nourishing natural food, and social conditions such as dealing with poverty, poor housing and insecure employment.
Heroes Not Zombies 
To tell if the tree is alive lightly scrape the bark with your nail. It should be green. A seed just needs good growing medium (nutrition), light and moisture. Both need regular fertiliser. I don’t know how much of this applies to humans!