Terrified funeral parlour worker spots woman breathing after she's declared dead

27 September 2023 , 20:01

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The woman "died twice" at the Hospital San Juan de Dios (Image: wikicommons/carlos figueroa)

A woman has “died twice” in 19 hours after suddenly being found breathing in a Spanish funeral parlour.

The family of the 90-year-old, who has not been named, were told of her death and she was taken from the Hospital San Juan de Dios, in Zaragoza, to the Tanatorio de Torrero funeral home. But a worker in the morgue was shocked to find her still breathing and she was rushed back to the hospital. She was found to have a “light pulse” for a short period before dying again on September 19.

The woman’s daughter was told that the body was taken to the funeral parlour at 11pm after she died of natural causes, but then she had to be informed that she had shown signs of life and was returned to the hospital. Plans had been made for the funeral to take place the following day after the death, as is typically the case in Spain for non-suspicious deaths. And it was while the body was being prepared at the morgue that a worker noticed the woman breathing.

The hospital has since reportedly said that it is “relatively common” for a body to appear to have returned to life and it is due to a heart spasm leading it to beat for a short period. A statement continued: “But the person is not really alive again.” It had initially recorded that the woman had died of heart failure and it was “impossible to resuscitate” her. She was pronounced dead after following all the normal protocols. Police are now investigating whether there has been any malpractice from hospital staff with initial indications suggesting that this was not the case.

Earlier this year a care home was fined $10,000 (£8,185) after a funeral home discovered a woman sent to it in a body bag was still alive. The 66-year-old woman was found breathing despite having been declared dead at the Glen Oaks Alzheimer’s Special Care Centre in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 3, the Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals said in a report.

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The woman, whose name has not been released, had early onset dementia, anxiety and depression and had been in hospice care since December 28, last year. She was placed in a zipped body bag and taken to the Ankeny Funeral Home & Crematory, where workers found that she was breathing and called 911, the report said. She was taken to Mercy West Lakes Hospital, where she was breathing but unresponsive. The woman was ultimately returned to hospice care, where she died on January 5 with her family by her side, according to the report.

Tim Hanlon