20-Year-Old Woman Declared Dead Found Alive at Funeral Home

A 20-year-old woman who had been declared dead was found alive at the funeral home she was [...]

By Stephen Andrew

A 20-year-old woman who had been declared dead was found alive at the funeral home she was transported to. According to CBS News affiliate KUTV, the Michigan woman was found unresponsive in her home on Sunday by the Southfield Fire Department. Emergency responders performed life-saving measures such as CPR, but the unidentified woman remained unresponsive. She was eventually pronounced dead and was released to her family.

The woman was taken to James H. Cole Funeral Home, where she was discovered to be alive. "After receiving clearance from the Oakland County Medical Examiner's office she was transported to our funeral home," the funeral home said in a statement issued to PEOPLE. "Upon her arrival at the funeral home, our staff confirmed she was breathing and called EMS." The woman was taken to a nearby hospital, but her current condition has not been revealed. "We couldn't believe it," said deputy commissioner of the Detroit fire department Dave Fornell. He also added that the woman's heart rate was found to be 80.

The Southfield Fire Department issued a statement on the unusual situation, explaining that personnel had no reason to believe the woman was alive after working to revive her for half-an-hour. "At 7:34 a.m. on August 23, 2020, Southfield Fire Department paramedics arrived at a home in Southfield on a call for an unresponsive female. When paramedics arrived, they found a 20-year-old who was not breathing. The paramedics performed CPR and other life reviving methods for 30 minutes," the statement read.

The statement continued: "Given medical readings and the condition of the patient, it was determined at that time that she did not have signs of life. Because there was no indication of foul play, as per standard operating procedure, the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office was contacted and given the medical data. The patient was again determined to have expired and the body was released directly to the family to make arrangements with a funeral home of their choosing."

At this time, the woman's identity is intentionally being withheld, to protect her privacy. PEOPLE states that it reached out to both the Southfield Fire Department and Southfield Police Department for comment, but neither immediately responded to the request. It also appears that the woman's family has not yet commented on the situation.

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