FT151:22
Resurrections
The stiffs who wouldnt take it lying down

A Kazakh man was electrocuted while trying to steal power cables.  He was wrapped in a cloth shroud, according to Muslim tradition, and buried in a shallow grave.  Two days later he regained consciousness, climbed out of the grave and walked to his village, where he shocked friends and family by turning up for his own funeral feast.  [R]7 Dec 2000

Hsu Jui-nien, 75, from Yunlin county, Taiwan, was rushed to hospital on 17 December in the city of Touliu after suffering serious injuries ina  motorcycle accident.  After spending more than two hours trying to resuscitate him, the hospital issued a death certificate and his family took him to a mortuary, where he was placed in a refrigeration unit.  Five hours later he was found to be breathing and he was returned to hospital, where he was reported to be in a coma.  South China Morning Post, 19 Dec 2000

Helen Lafitte, 81, of Mansfield, Lousiana, was declared dead on 4 February 2000.  Her temperature was 26.7C (80F) and she had no pulse or muscle reflexes.  She had apparently 'overmedicated' herself.  She was put in a body bag and taken to the Bossier Parish coroner's office for autopsy, but was found to be breathing again.  Four Days later she was 'doing okay'.  However, she died following a heart attack three weeks later.  Shreveport (LA) Times, 7 Feb - Mar 2000

A 24 year old woman from Sierra Leone, Baby Jane Saidu, awoke after an illness to discover she was being lowered into her grave.  She created panic when she opened her eyes and asked mourners what they thought they were doing.  allafrica.com via Sunday Times, 14 Jan 2001

On 20 January 2001 a woman aged 39 was found slumped in her bathtub in Ashland, MAssachusetts.  She had apparently attempted suicide with an overdose of pills.  Emergency medical technicians though she was dead, but three hours later funeral director John MAtarese heard a gurgling noise coming from the body bag.  He unzipped the bag and held her mouth open to keep her air passages clear.  She was taken to hospital in good condition.  [AP] 26 Jan 2001

Giullio Sanca was pronounced dead in Taranto, Italy, but woke up 26 hours later in a morgue when an embalmer stuck a needle in his arm.  He struck the man and ran outside to hide behind a dustbin.  News of the World, 18 Feb 2001.