# Man wakes up in morgue after being deemed dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-after-being-deemed-dead/590424 "2011-07-26T20:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-after-being-deemed-dead/590424/1 "2011-07-26T20:06:02Z")
In South Africa: [Story here](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20083534-10391704.html). > [@](#): > > The unidentified man - who was mistaken for dead after being knocked out by an asthma attack - woke up Sunday afternoon, about 21 hours after his family had called an undertaker, ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-after-being-deemed-dead/590424/2 "2011-07-26T21:13:24Z")
Are we _sure_ he’s not a zombie? ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-after-being-deemed-dead/590424/3 "2011-07-26T21:21:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Is there a lesson here? Kupelo, the health department spokesman, thinks so. He urged South Africans to call on health officials to confirm that their relatives are really dead. That’s their lesson? “Make sure their relatives are really dead”? Sounds like the punch line to the old joke involving a call to 911, the emergency agent hearing a shotgun blast heard over the phone after advising the caller to “make sure X really is dead”, and then a request for further instructions. Meanwhile: > [@](#): > > But a day after the man was put in the locked refrigerated compartment, **morgue workers heard someone yelling for help. They thought it was a ghost,** Magolo **said. The man was freed only after the police were called.** You’d think there’s an opportunity for worker training here, too. “If you hear frantic screaming from inside a body storage compartment… LET THEM OUT!” ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-after-being-deemed-dead/590424/4 "2011-07-26T21:52:36Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > …You’d think there’s an opportunity for worker training here, too. “If you hear frantic screaming from inside a body storage compartment… LET THEM OUT!” Unless of course the person is screaming “BRAINS!!!” over and over againt. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-after-being-deemed-dead/590424/5 "2011-07-26T21:56:20Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Unless of course the person is screaming “BRAINS!!!” over and over againt. You know, if I’m 80 years old and find myself in this scenario, I just might break that one out. 'Cause if they pull the drawer open and shoot me in the brain, well, I’ve lived my life, and they’ve voted me off the proverbial island anyway - I might as well go out with a corny joke. And if nobody comes to let me out and I’m to die a horrible, isolated death anyway - I’m all for improving all my odds of returning as a vengeance-seeking undead monster. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-after-being-deemed-dead/590424/6 "2011-07-27T14:17:44Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > You’d think there’s an opportunity for worker training here, too. Well, they couldn’t be _sure_ it wasn’t a ghost. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-after-being-deemed-dead/590424/7 "2011-07-27T16:07:32Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > “If you hear frantic screaming from inside a body storage compartment… LET THEM OUT!” They’ve gotten to you haven’t they? Frikken Z sympathizer!!! Redeker will deal with you! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-after-being-deemed-dead/590424/8 "2011-07-27T22:57:30Z")
Holy fright night ! ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-wakes-up-in-morgue-after-being-deemed-dead/590424/9 "2011-07-28T03:09:46Z")
Did he have \*mourning wood \*- if so, was it a stiffy? yeah… I won’t quit my day job…