'Dead' Man Wakes Up Before Burial, Put On Life Support

A 20-year-old man, who was declared dead by a hospital in the northern Indian city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, came back to life when his body was about to be buried. According to local network NDTV, the man was admitted to a private hospital on June 21 after an accident.

On Monday, the hospital declared the man dead, following which his body was transported to his home in an ambulance. Authorities said the family members, who were devastated by his dead, prepared for his funeral. However, just before he was being buried, the man woke up. He was immediately transported to a local hospital where he was put on life support. The man was identified as Mohammad Furqan.

"Devastated, we were preparing for the burial when some of us saw movement in his limbs. We immediately took Furqan to the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where the doctors said he was alive and have put him on ventilator support," his elder brother Mohammad Irfan told NDTV, adding that the family had paid $10,000 to the private hospital earlier but when they told the facility that they had run out of money for his treatment, the hospital declared him dead on Monday.

"We have taken cognizance of the incident and the matter will be thoroughly probed," Lucknow Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Narendra Agarwal said.

A doctor treating Furqan said the patient was in a critical condition when he was brought to the hospital last month, but "definitely not brain dead. He has a pulse, blood pressure and his reflexes are working. He has been put on ventilator support."

In a similar incident last year, a 34-year-old man came back to life during his funeral in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Eshwar Pavade’s body was kept near his freshly dug grave ready to be buried when his relative found out that the "dead" man was breathing.

According to the Times of India, a grieving family member was lying across the dead man’s chest when he felt the breathing. Within seconds, everyone noticed that the man slightly opened his eyes. Pavade was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital and admitted to the critical care unit.

In another case, a 65-year old woman who was placed at the morgue after she was declared dead by the doctors at a private hospital was found alive by the family members. The incident took place in the northern Indian state of Punjab in May.