Strange But True: Dead Man Awakens While Being Loaded Into Funeral Car
It sounds like an urban legend. A man is declared legally dead and emergency workers call for an undertaker. To everyone’s shock and surprise, however, the man awakens shortly thereafter. Although the story sounds incredible, it actually happened recently.
History is rife with stories of people who have been buried alive. In fact, some urban legends claim that the phrases “saved by the bell” and “graveyard shift” originated in the lengths to which some communities used to go in an effort to ensure that only the dead were actually buried. According to those legends, some towns buried ropes inside coffins that led to loud signal bells above ground. If the “dead” person awoke, he or she could pull the rope and signal a rescue crew for help. Likewise, legend states that “graveyard shift” workers sat at new gravesites overnight to listen for sounds coming from the newly buried.
Whether those stories are true or not, they stem from a time before modern medical equipment or knowledge. It seems unimaginable today that someone who was not dead would be officially judged to be so. Yet according to News 24, this happened recently in South Africa.
Apparently ambulance assistants responded to a call at a home. The man in question was lying on the ground covered with a blanket. He had no pulse and was not breathing. The emergency responders examined him and, declaring the man dead, called for an undertaker. The man was loaded onto a stretcher, but awoke shortly before being loaded into the funeral car.
Paramedics were again called and on arriving at the home, declared the man “alive.” The hospital was unable to determine exactly what had happened, but did send the man home with blood pressure medication. Apparently emergency workers in his town have received remedial training in determining whether death has actually occurred.
Filed Under: Funeral Cars
About the Author: 