Sorry, not dead yet! 5 incidents when people were mistakenly declared dead

Knock knock. Who's there? Dead person who is still alive

This is exactly what happened in a bizzare incident when a 76-year-old woman declared dead in a hospital in Ecuador surprised everyone by being alive and knocking on her coffin during her funeral in the city of Babahoyo on June 13. 

The Ministry of Public Health are investigating the matter. 

The relatives, while in shock processing what just happened, rushed retired nurse Bella Montoya back to the hospital. The woman was hospitalised due to suspected stroke and cardiopulmonary arrest. Despite the application of resuscitation procedures, she did not exhibit any response, and was pronounced dead.

Surprisingly there are more such incidents

1. Patient declared dead emerges from body bag gasping for Air

A report from Iowa's Health Department reveals that a 66-year-old woman, whose identity remains undisclosed, was mistakenly declared dead by staff members at the Glen Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Center in Urbandale, Iowa, US.

On January 3, 2023, she was transported to a funeral home after being pronounced dead at the care centre. However, when the body bag was unzipped at the funeral home, she was found to be alive and gasping for air, as stated in a citation from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals.

The woman had been admitted to the care centre in December 2021, suffering from early onset dementia, anxiety, and depression. In late December 2022, she entered hospice care due to senile degeneration of the brain and received treatment with the anxiety medication lorazepam and the painkiller morphine, according to the report.

As a result of the incident, the care centre was fined $10,000 for the mistake.

When the body bag was opened by funeral home workers, they observed movement in the woman's chest and witnessed her gasping for air. They promptly called 911. The woman was then transported to an emergency room with a low body temperature and shallow breathing. As she had a do-not-resuscitate directive, she was subsequently returned to the hospice at the Alzheimer's care centre. Sadly, she passed away two days later.

2. US teenager beats death, returns to life after being declared dead

Sammy Berko, a 16-year-old boy from the US, left medical professionals astounded when he miraculously exhibited signs of life two hours after being pronounced dead.

On January 7, 2023, Sammy was rushed to the hospital after experiencing a cardiac arrest while rock climbing at a nearby gym.

Despite receiving continuous CPR from gym staff, emergency personnel, and hospital doctors, Berko's condition did not improve. After two hours of relentless efforts, the hospital staff had to deliver the heartbreaking news of his passing to his family.

But in an incredible turnaround, as the family gathered to say their final goodbyes, his father noticed some movement from Sammy. The medical staff were shocked and astonished to witness that the teenager was still alive, defying all odds.

A superpower you gain from rock climbing?

3. 3-year-old wakes up on her own funeral only to die again

In the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, a three-year-old girl named Camila Martínez surprised her parents by awakening during her funeral viewing, despite doctors at Salinas de Hidalgo Basic Community Hospital declaring her dead from dehydration.

On August 17, 2022, the girl was receiving medical care at Salinas de Hidalgo Basic Community Hospital for a stomach ailment, vomiting, and fever.

Upon assessing the situation, the doctor decided it was necessary to transfer the child to a hospital for dehydration treatment. At the hospital, medical professionals took measures such as placing a cold towel on her body to reduce her temperature and utilizing a pulse oximeter on her finger to monitor oxygen levels. 

After being discharged from the hospital with a prescription for paracetamol (used for pain and fever relief), Camila's condition worsened throughout the day. Subsequently, another doctor advised her mother to provide her with fruits and water for nourishment and prescribed a different medication. Despite following the prescribed medications and medical advice, the young child continued to experience vomiting, causing great concern for her parents. Seeking further assistance, they took her to another doctor who urgently recommended that she be immediately taken to the emergency room. 

Camila was readmitted to Salinas de Hidalgo Basic Community Hospital between 9 and 10 pm, where the medical staff tried to help the young girl.

Unfortunately, she passed away due to dehydration. The following day, a funeral was held, and during the service, a peculiar incident occurred when the glass window of her casket became foggy. Surprisingly, her eyes moved and she still had a pulse when the family realised she was still alive.

The family took her back to the same hospital, where doctors, while attempting to treat her, declared her deceased once again, this time from a cerebral edema (brain swelling). 

Camila's family blamed the hospital staff of negligence. 

4. Miraculous revival: UP man returns back to life after spending 7 hrs in mortuary freezer

In an unbelievable case, a real-life incident resembling a movie plot, a man named Sreekesh Kumar (40), who worked as an electrician, was mistakenly pronounced dead and placed inside a hospital mortuary freezer in Moradabad district, Uttar Pradesh. 

After being brought to the district hospital due to a collision with a speeding bike, doctors had declared him dead. 

To everyone's surprise, he was discovered alive over seven hours later while awaiting an autopsy procedure. This extraordinary event left everyone baffled. 

5. 'Dead' man awakens just as autopsy begins

This is an incident from 2014, where Carlos Camejo, a 33-year-old Venezuelan man, experienced an unbelievable ordeal when he regained consciousness in the morgue and endured intense pain while medical examiners were in the process of performing an autopsy. 

Carlos had been declared dead following a highway accident and was subsequently transported to the morgue. However, during the autopsy, the examiners became aware that something was wrong when he began to bleed. Swiftly reacting to the unexpected situation, they promptly stitched up the incision on his face.

"I woke up because the pain was unbearable," Camejo said, according to a report in leading local newspaper El Universal.