# Family hail 'miracle' as boy wakes up in morgue **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088 "2002-07-09T15:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skeptico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@Skeptico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeptico)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/1 "2002-07-09T15:35:51Z")
Story at: [http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm\_625295.html?menu=news.quirkies](http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_625295.html?menu=news.quirkies) [BEGIN] [_Deleted_] [END] How is this possible?? I know this mistake was common in past centuries, but how can modern medicine & modern equipment mistaken someone for dead? From watching ER, I was under the impression that “cardiac massage” is opening the chest and pumping the heart with the doctor’s own hands, no? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/2 "2002-07-09T15:40:51Z")
Welcome to the boards, \*_Skeptico_. > [@](#): > > From watching ER, I was under the impression that > “cardiac massage” is opening the chest and pumping > the heart with the doctor’s own hands, no? [Not necessarily.](http://medmic02.wnmeds.ac.nz/groups/rmo/arrest/arrest7.html) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/3 "2002-07-09T15:43:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Welcome to the boards, \*_Skeptico_. It’s never too early to learn good coding. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/4 "2002-07-09T15:50:13Z")
> [@](#): > > How is this possible?? I know this mistake was common > in past centuries, but how can modern medicine & modern > equipment mistaken someone for dead? Heck, it wasn’t uncommon in the last 50 years. Just because technology has advanced doesn’t mean we’ve a measurement for every subtle little sign of life. In fact… (warning: incomcing anecdote) my grandmother “died” when my dad was 13. She had a massive stroke and by all measurements of the time (early '50s), she was dead: no heartbeat, no respiration, etc. So she was pronounced dead and sent to the morgue. There, some unfortunate hospital worker was going about his morgue business when he noticed _twitching_ under my grandmother’s sheet. (Fuh-REAKY!) Yup–she was still alive…and she still is today. She’s the Energizer Bunny of the family–2 strokes, 3 heart attacks, quadruple bypass…yet here she is, as spunky and self-sustaining as ever. I would imagine that such events are highly unlikely with today’s modern medicine and technologies in the most advanced of countries. However, in less developed countries I’m sure it’s still a regular (though likely not common) occurrence. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/5 "2002-07-09T15:52:30Z")
Welcome **Skeptico**. A moderator will be along shortly to explain how quoting entire copyrighted news articles is against SDMB policy. Stick to just a link next time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/6 "2002-07-09T15:55:47Z")
Okay, allow me to rephrase my first sentence: It wasn’t **unheard of** in the last 50 years. I wouldn’t suggest it’s really ever been “common.” ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/7 "2002-07-09T16:10:25Z")
Besides, this was in Chile. A lot of their medical facilities aren’t exactly “modern”. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/8 "2002-07-09T16:11:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skeptico \* > The family believes the boy’s life was saved because friends and neighbours prayed to the Virgin of Lourdes. > > They believe the Virgin rescued Luis Alfredo because he is an altar boy and wants to become a priest. Skeptico, welcome to the board! 🙂 I believe that millions of people have prayed to the Virgin of Lourdes (and many indeed travelled there). Practically all receive no benefit. Obviously this family are emotionally aroused, but this is not significant support for a theory that a supernatural force saves people from death if those people want to be a priest. Indeed one might wonder why the Deity nearly killed the child in the first place… ---
**Author:** ![Skeptico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@Skeptico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeptico)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/9 "2002-07-09T16:33:31Z")
For some reason I am not allowed to edit my own post to remove the copyrighted portion (sorry). I find plausible the hypothesis that Chile’s facilities aren’t “modern”. As someone who lived in Brazil for a long time, Chile always seemed to me as “first world” by comparison. But I think this hypothesis answers my question in a satisfactory way. I agree with Glee that this is not strong evidence for supernatural claims, as simpler explanations exist. Any comments about the PH level? Thanks for the warm welcome! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/10 "2002-07-09T16:39:01Z")
> [@](#): > > For some reason I am not allowed to edit my own post to remove the copyrighted portion (sorry). Sounds like it’s time to read the FAQ, especially the ones over in **About this Message Board**. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/11 "2002-07-09T16:54:16Z")
**Skeptico** It was decided that allowing Members to edit their own post would cause more problems than it solved. So edit was disabled for Members You may paraphrase or post excerpts from copyrighted articles, but you may not post an entire article. Since you have a link, I deleted the entire article from your OP. [QUOTE] \*Originally posted by \*\*\*Arnold Winkelried \*\* _in [FAQ - guidlines for posting at the SDMB](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=106617)_ Suggested guidelines: [list=A] [li]If you are going to quote something from an article, quote less than 5% of the source. Include a link to the article if the article is available online.[/li][li]Only quote directly in very rare circumstances. Instead of repeating a source word-for-word, read the article, attempt to understand it, and rephrase what it says in your own words. Again, include a link to the source if the source is available online. Otherwise indicate a reference to the source (e.g. Science News, issue x, pages yy-zz).[/list=A] [/li][/QUOTE] **DrMatrix** - General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2002, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/12 "2002-07-09T23:31:22Z")
Actually its happened in recent years in North America too. See the Snopes article in “Buried Alive”: [http://www.snopes2.com/horrors/gruesome/buried.htm](http://www.snopes2.com/horrors/gruesome/buried.htm) “In 1994, 86-year-old Mildred C. Clarke spent ninety minutes in a body bag in the morgue at the Albany Medical Center Hospital before an attendant noticed the bag was breathing” ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-hail-miracle-as-boy-wakes-up-in-morgue/118088/13 "2002-07-10T02:29:40Z")
It’s not common but it does happen even in advanced first world societies. Not everyone dies at a hospital and even there, deep coma can go undetected by well trained, experienced medical professionals without specialized equipment. Case in point. On Jan 26, 2001 a woman in Ashland, MA was found alive in a body bag at a funeral home. Here’s the AP report, [Victim of apparent suicide comes to in body bag in funeral home](http://www.seacoastonline.com/2001news/1_25odd.htm).