The mortuary staff in a Mumbai hospital were thrown into a panic frenzy after a ‘dead’ man woke up just as his autopsy was about to begin, reported the BBC.

According to the report, the 50-year-old homeless man identified as Prakash was found unconscious at a bus stop before he was brought to a hospital on Sunday. Doctors were unable to resuscitate the man and after checking his pulse, he was declared dead by a senior doctor at the Lokmanya Tilak General Hospital.

While there is a hospital protocol requiring patients pronounced dead to be kept in the casualty ward for two hours, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rohan Rohekar allegedly told the hospital staff to immediately take Prakash’s body to the morgue.

Mr. Prakash after being pronounced ‘dead’. Photo: Mumbai hospital

But just as the body was being prepared for the post-mortem, two morgue staff were stunned to see him breathing after spotting “his stomach moving up and down”. Then the man woke up!

Overwhelmed with panic, the two porters informed doctors about what they saw. Upon realizing his mistake, Rohekar allegedly ripped up the death report and disposed of the entry he made in the casualty ward log.

“It is a serious case of negligence by the doctor,” Senior Police Inspector Yeshudas Gorde said.

“We were shocked to find patient was alive after he had been declared dead. We have written to the dean of Sion Hospital, asking him to conduct an inquiry and give us the report,” he added.

Hospital dean, Dr Suleman Merchant, reportedly said it was not unusual for doctors to miss a patient’s pulse if the body had suffered shock or trauma.

Certain patients, according to Merchant, often” do not seem to have pulses for a short period of time due to serious shocks or traumas.”

Apparently, Prakash suffered from a metabolic disorder. He is currently being treated for an ear infection and malnutrition.

H/T: BBC

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