A woman in New York was found to be breathing after being pronounced dead and sent to a funeral home, the second such case reported in the last month.
The harrowing incident unfolded on Saturday at the Water’s Edge Rehab and Nursing Center in Port Jefferson on Long Island.
The 82-year-old woman was pronounced dead at about 11:15 a.m. and sent to the O.B. Davis Funeral Home in Miller Place about two hours later.
At about 2:09 p.m., she was discovered to be still breathing, according to officials. She was taken to a nearby hospital, but her condition has not been released to the public because of privacy concerns.
“Out of respect for the privacy and confidentiality of the families we are honored to serve, we are not in a position to comment further on this matter,” said a spokesperson for the O.B. Davis Funeral Home to WPIX-TV.
The attorney general’s office is investigating the incident.
A similar case was reported from the Glen Oaks Alzheimer’s Special Care Center in Urbandale, Iowa, in January. A woman was declared dead by a licensed nurse and sent to a funeral home. A worker at the funeral home said they sensed movement from a woman who had been zipped up in fabric body bag, and then she gasped for air.
EMS personnel were able to detect a heartbeat, but the woman was unresponsive and had no eye movement.
That woman was hospitalized and died two days later surrounded by her family. The center was fined $10,000 over two violations related to the disturbing incident.
Here’s a local news report about the incident:
