A Mississippi man that was thought to be dead (and declared so) was found alive and kicking in a body bag at a funeral home, according to reports.
Funeral home employees noticed the man kicking inside the body bag after he was declared dead by the coroner, TIME reported. The elderly man’s name is Walter Williams. His pulse had ceased on Wednesday, according to reports. It was reported that Williams is breathing without assistance, but is still very weak, too much so to talk, his family in Mississippi told reporters.
His family members in Mississippi said they were unsure of what the future is going to bring or how long they will have with him, but they are grateful he is alive, according to news reports. WREG, a Memphis, Tenn. CBS station affiliate reported the story and indicated that he did speak to members of his family, wondering why they had stopped talking in a conversation at the hospital. They were relieved and thanked God for the experience, as reported by WREG.
The incident took place in Holmes County in Mississippi, which is between the cities of Jackson and Memphis, Tenn. It is a small southern community with just over 20,000 people.
USA Today reported that workers at the funeral home were actually preparing to embalm Mr. Williams, but he began kicking from within the zipped up body bag that he was temporarily resting in. Fortunately for him, he did not have to go to his final resting place just yet. The Mississippi man thought dead was found alive inside the body bag, but his health conditions of the 78-year-old farmer were reportedly dire enough to stop his heart at one point.
Porter and Sons Funeral Home in Lexington was the site of the reportedly terrifying experience. Lexington, named after a Massachusetts city, is the county seat of Holmes County and has Civil War history. Law enforcement was reportedly unsure of how this happened and it was reported in USA Today that the county Sheriff Willie March said coroner Dexter Howard described the event as a “miracle.”
Paramedics responded to the scene, reportedly, and quickly transported Williams to a Mississippi hospital, where he could be treated after the traumatic and bizarre experience of waking up in a zipped up body bag. The coroner, according to reports, believed that it is possible that the man’s pacemaker device may have stopped working then suddenly kicked back into operation just before he was to be embalmed.
This is a shocking event, but it has been reported before. A woman in China was said to have awaken from the dead after being placed in a coffin. After the family had searched for her corpse, she was discovered at home cooking. There have been other bizarre and shocking tales of people waking up and discovering that everyone else had thought they were dead. The Mississippi man that was thought to be dead and found alive in the body bag is just another bizarre tale to add to the records.
By Rob Lawson
Sources:
USA Today
WREG CBS News Channel 3 from Memphis
