Living woman discovered in body bag
In Santa Catarina, Brazil, doctors at a regional clinic discover the death of an elderly woman. What sounds hardly remarkable until then becomes a moment of shock for the employee of a crematorium: when he is asked to collect the woman's body, he realizes that she is still breathing.
The employee of a crematorium in Santa Catarina, Brazil, must have had the shock of his life on this job: He was supposed to collect the body of a recently deceased 90-year-old woman from a mortuary in the city of São José last Saturday. However, the alleged corpse seemed unusual to him, as local media reported. When he finally opens the body bag, he discovers that the woman wrapped in it is still alive.
Norma S. had been pronounced dead at a regional hospital in the city just hours earlier, at 11.40 in the late evening. The doctors gave a urinary tract infection as the cause of death, reported the Brazilian news portal "Estadão" on the death certificate issued. The woman's body was then wrapped in a body bag and taken to the mortuary. At 1.30 in the early morning, the crematorium employee arrived and noticed that the body was still warm and had no rigor mortis.
"When he opened the bag, she was breathing very weakly," Jéssica Silvi Pereira, a friend of the 90-year-old, told the Brazilian news platform NaTelinha. "But because she was unconscious, she could no longer call for help." S. had been in the bag for almost two hours and "almost suffocated".
Family wants to sue clinic
After being discovered by the crematorium employee, S. was immediately admitted to the clinic again. However, she died there a day later. The second death certificate issued by the ward states that the cause of death was "septic shock", as "Estadão" reports. It is not yet clear whether the 90-year-old died from her illness or because she did not receive medical care in time. According to local media, she suffered from liver problems.
Pereira severely reproaches the hospital staff. S. was admitted to the regional hospital in a poor state of health. However, she was conscious during a visit on Saturday afternoon. "She opened her eyes. She didn't have much drive, but she managed to open her eyes and saw that we were there," Pereira told "Estadão". On Saturday evening, she and S.'s son finally received the news that their friend and mother had died. According to Pereira, S. was immediately taken to the mortuary without the family having time to see the old woman.
The family is now planning to sue the hospital. "Such neglect is not to be wished on anyone," she said. The Santa Catarina Ministry of Health has opened an investigation into the case. The ethics commission has also been informed.
The unfortunate incident in Santa Catarina, Brazil, sparked international interest, as the woman was discovered alive in a body bag intended for cremation. Despite being pronounced dead due to a urinary tract infection by local doctors, her second cause of death was listed as "septic shock" following her re-admission to the hospital.
Source: www.ntv.de
