# Dead baby wakes up at own funeral **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 11, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023 "2009-08-11T02:26:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023/1 "2009-08-11T02:26:13Z")
> [@](#): > > ASUNCION - A baby boy born 16 weeks prematurely was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Paraguay only to wake up in time for his funeral wake hours later. > > The family was given a death certificate and a cardboard box with the baby’s name scribbled on the outside which served as a makeshift coffin. But when the family took him from the hospital to prepare him for his funeral, the unbelievable happened. > > “I opened the box and took the baby out and he cried. I got scared and I said “the baby’s crying” … and then he started moving his arms, his legs and I got scared, we got very scared,” said one member of the family, Liliana Alvarenga. > > The hospital has begun an investigation and the baby is now in a stable condition in an incubator. [Story here.](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/08/10/2009-08-10_dead_baby_wakes_up_in_time_for_his_own_funeral_wake.html) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023/2 "2009-08-11T03:05:14Z")
They sure didn’t waste any time preparing for the funeral. (I’d be scared too.) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023/3 "2009-08-11T03:16:51Z")
Based on comments after the article, it seems the child died. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023/4 "2009-08-11T03:34:59Z")
Did his family want him back? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023/5 "2009-08-11T03:43:35Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Based on comments after the article, it seems the child died. Sad. Hey, maybe it’ll make another comeback! The poor baby was only 17 ounces. I’ve been to Paraguay, and I doubt their medical care is up to first world standards, which would be hard pressed to keep the baby alive. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023/6 "2009-08-11T05:18:17Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Based on comments after the article, it seems the child died. Sad. [Confirmed by BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8194262.stm). Well, that just fucking sucks. ☹ (I predict many glurge e-mails will omit that part, though…) ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023/7 "2009-08-11T05:26:11Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > The poor baby was only 17 ounces. I’ve been to Paraguay, and I doubt their medical care is up to first world standards, which would be hard pressed to keep the baby alive. > [@Homer Simpson](#): > > America’s health care system is second only to Japan, Canada, Sweden, Great Britain, well…all of Europe. But you can thank your lucky stars we don’t live in _Paraguay_! Also, the thread title sounds like a setup for a Dead Baby joke. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023/8 "2009-08-11T05:27:30Z")
All right, am I so wrong for not wanting him back? I’d be too creeped out. I’ve seen way too much horror ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023/9 "2009-08-11T16:52:09Z")
I wonder if he would have lived if they had not declared him dead in the first place. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-baby-wakes-up-at-own-funeral/506023/10 "2009-08-12T00:16:34Z")
Certainly a tragedy - the poor family. I should know better than to read the feedback on stories like this, but there aren’t rolleyes for this one: “I sure don’t want Gov’t healthcare if this is the example.”