"Dead Woman" Moves Arm; Embalming Postponed
A Colombian woman who was declared dead after a heart attack moved her arm just as she was about to be injected by the undertaker. He then did the smart thing and 45-year-old Noelia Serna was rushed to a hospital in Cali – the same one where she was prematurely written off Tuesday.
She's in critical condition, but that's better than before.
Serna, who has multiple sclerosis, was admitted to Cali University Hospital Monday after her heart attack. She survived 10 hours on life support, before authorities determined she had expired.
Neurosurgeon Juan Mendoza said on rare occasions, a person's heart rate and breathing can drop to undetectable levels, leading doctors to erroneously declare a patient dead.
Two hours later, funeral home employee Jaime Aullon was about to embalm Serna, when she saw her move. "She was moving her right arm. I stopped the procedure and brought her back to the hospital to be treated."
"It can happen," he said. "But it's not a matter of coming back to life because the person was never dead."
Good of them to notice.