Woman wakes up in body bag after being declared dead
Can confirm: New fear unlocked!
Taphophobia is the fear of being buried alive and is considered an "abnormal" fear, although we would argue that this seems like a completely rational fear.
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Especially when you hear about a story like this.
Glen Oaks Alzheimer's Special Care Center, located in the United States of America, is facing having to pay a fine of $10,000 (about R178,000) for declaring a resident dead... although she was still alive!
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In the official Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals incident report, the facility is accused of failing to ensure residents received "dignified treatment and care at end of life" and has been fined the maximum amount.
According to reports, a nurse at the facility was working an overnight shift on the 3rd of January 2022 when the 66-year-old hospice patient's condition was slowly deteriorating. The nurse noted that the patient was experiencing shallow breaths, a decreased pulse, and diminished lung sounds.
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At around 6am the nurse listened to the patient's lungs, failed to hear any breathing and detected no pulse, so she concluded that the patient had passed away and the facility began the standard procedure in order to release the patient's body to a funeral home.
The funeral director arrived an hour and a half later and placed the "deceased" into a body bag before transporting her to the funeral home.
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Much to the shock and horror of a funeral home employee, when they later unzipped the bag they found that the woman was gasping for air and very clearly breathing. They called 911 and she was taken to the hospital for further evaluation.
Two days later the patient did pass away and this time she was surrounded by her family.
The executive director of Glen Oaks, Linda Eastman, has spoken to a local outlet about the ordeal:
We care deeply for our residents and remain fully committed to supporting their end-of-life care. All employees undergo regular training so they can best support end-of-life care and the death of our residents.
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Other reports have since surfaced that have shown that the facility was previously fined for failing to ensure that proper mandatory background checks were done for five employees who did not have the required training.
One can only hope that no one else has to ever go through a similar experience.
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Main image courtesy of iStock/kzenon