Morgue workers in India received the shock of a lifetime when they discovered a moving ‘corpse’ in their freezer.
As unbelievable as it may seem, incidents like these have occurred several times over the years. There are multiple reports of corpses exhibiting signs of life a few hours after their apparent death. Recently, one such case occurred in Mumbai, India.
According to BBC, a 50-year-old unconscious, homeless man presented to a hospital in Mumbai, India. At the hospital, doctors treated the man, Prashant, for an electrolyte imbalance and anemia. However, when he failed to recover, a senior doctor declared him as deceased.
The Living Corpse
The standard protocol for transferring patients to a morgue involves keeping the deceased on the ward for two hours before a transfer. However, in Prashant’s case, the ‘corpse’ was immediately transferred to the mortuary and placed on one of the cooling units.
He was treated for having maggots in his right ear and was unconscious. We treated him for electrolyte imbalance and transfused blood because he was anemic.
Dr. Suleman Merchant, dean of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital
Two days later when the morgue workers went to retrieve the body for post-mortem analysis, the patient awoke. Unfortunately, he eventually passed away a few days later.
The hospital has recently launched an inquiry into the incident to investigate what caused the breach in the hospital’s protocols and ultimately Prashant’s death.
Could it be the Lazarus Heart?
So, what could cause an apparent corpse to come back from the dead?
Certain times it is due to human error, a mix-up at the hospital, or maybe wrongful death diagnosis by doctors. Such medical negligence played a key role in causing Prashant’s death.
But, at times certain medical conditions can also cause a deceased-like state in patients. One of them being, the Lazarus Syndrome.
The Lazarus Syndrome takes its name from the biblical story of Lazarus. In the story, a man called Lazarus is brought back to life by Jesus.
The rare condition involves the spontaneous return of a cardiac rhythm despite multiple failed resuscitation attempts. The cause of the syndrome is unknown.
Therefore, to avoid wrongful death diagnosis research recommends a standard protocol for declaring a patient’s death. That is, upon cessation of resuscitation a patient’s vital signs remain under observation for five to ten minutes.
Reference:
Mumbai man found alive in mortuary dies two days later. (2015, October 14). Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34525000
Maeda, Hitoshi, et al. “Death Following Spontaneous Recovery from Cardiopulmonary Arrest in a Hospital Mortuary: ‘Lazarus Phenomenon’ in a Case of Alleged Medical Negligence.” Forensic Science International, vol. 127, no. 1-2, 2002, pp. 82–87., doi:10.1016/s0379-0738(02)00107-x.
