A woman in her 70s was believed to have died and was placed inside a refrigerated coffin, only for her family to discover her alive the following day.
However, the elderly woman died two days later after briefly showing signs of life.
The unusual incident took place in a village in Hejian, Cangzhou, in China’s Hebei province.
According to Chinese news outlet iFeng, the woman had been seriously ill and had suffered from cerebral thrombosis for more than 10 years. A village official also told Jimu News that her cancer had spread throughout her body and doctors had informed her family that little more could be done.
On Sept 8, the woman appeared to show no signs of life, leading her family to believe that she had died, Stomp reported. She was placed in a coffin while the family waited for relatives who lived farther away to pay their respects.
A village official said the coffin had reportedly been switched to refrigeration mode rather than deep-freeze mode.
The following evening, on Sept 9, the woman’s daughter-in-law reportedly heard faint groaning sounds coming from inside the coffin.
When the coffin was opened, the family discovered that the elderly woman was still alive and showing signs of life.
A relative later told Jimu News that the woman was able to open her eyes on Sept 11 but remained weak and unable to eat or drink. She reportedly died later that night and was buried on Sept 13.
Local media described the incident as a possible case of “apparent death”, in which a person’s breathing and pulse become extremely weak and may lead others to mistakenly believe they have died.
Several Chinese media outlets cited a Health Times report explaining that doctors generally assess multiple signs when determining death, including the absence of a carotid pulse and spontaneous breathing, dilated pupils, signs of oxygen deprivation and a flat electrocardiogram.
The incident came to light after one of the woman’s relatives posted about it on Douyin on Sept 13, saying that the relative had been placed in a refrigerated coffin for a day before “coming back to life”.
