Woman Suspected Dead Found Alive at Funeral Home Just Prior to Embalming

DETROIT, MI- Wxyz.com writes that a twenty-year-old woman was declared dead and was at a funeral home in Detroit when someone noticed that she was still breathing. The woman's attorney stated that she opened her eyes when they were about to embalm her- which means her blood would have been drained from her body.

The woman's mother said that paramedics were called when the woman appeared unresponsive. The responders tried to revive her but stated that after about half an hour of life-saving attempts, they called the time of death. 

There were no indications of anything suspicious, and so the body was returned to the family in order for them to complete funeral arrangements. The family selected a home, and within hours of the woman being transferred to the facility, someone saw that she was breathing. 

The details are unclear, but the woman's godmother, who is s nurse, stated that she was there when the paramedics arrived and told them that she detected a pulse. 

The woman is in critical condition, and the time lost because she was transported to the funeral home rather than the hospital may have negatively impacted her ability to recover. Currently, she is on a ventilator at the Sinai Grace Hospital. It is not clear how the error may have worsened the woman's health or her chances of survival.

The medical examiner for the county never saw the woman as no foul play was suspected. 

The attorney points out the incident could have gone differently if the embalming had started before the victim opened her eyes. It would have been possible for no one to know that the woman had been alive when she was transported to the funeral home. 

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Sources:

https://www.wxyz.com/news/woman-pronounced-dead-later-found-to-be-still-breathing-at-detroit-funeral-home