14 DAY TRIAL // 54-year-old Valdelucio Goncalves came dangerously close to being buried alive after he was mistakenly pronounced dead, brought to a morgue, and even put inside a body bag.
Luckily, the man's brother found him moving around inside the body bag, and freed him. Needless to say, he had the shock of a lifetime when he realized that his brother was not dead, but alive and kicking.
This peculiar incident occurred in the city of Salvador in Brazil not too long ago. According to local media reports, 54-year-old Valdelucio Goncalves has been battling stomach cancer for quite a while now.
Towards the end of last week, he started feeling very ill, and was taken to the Menandro de Farias General Hospital. Here, doctors pronounced him dead, and listed respiratory and multiple organ failure as the cause of death.
Shortly after, the man was taken to the hospital's morgue and put inside a body bag. At home, his family started making plans for his funeral. Thus, they announced his passing in a local newspaper, and even bought a coffin, the New York Post informs.
As part of the preparations for Valdelucio Goncalves' burial, his brother, named Walterio, dropped by the morgue at the Menandro de Farias General Hospital. Apparently, he only wanted to dress the 54-year-old man for his funeral.
However, much to his surprise, he realized that his brother was not dead at all. On the contrary, he was moving about, trying to get out of the body bag. Walterio immediately alerted staff at the morgue, and the 54-year-old was freed.
“All I needed to do was put some new clothes on him, so he'd be ready for the undertaker to come and collect him. But as I got close I could see it wriggling. I went crazy and shouted for the medical team. They checked him and confirmed that he was still alive,” Walterio said in a statement.
After being pulled out the body bag, the 54-year-old man was taken to another hospital. Here, doctors are keeping a close eye on him. For the time being, he cannot speak. However, in a note, he said that a local saint named the Blessed Irma Dulce was the one who saved his life.
“I, Valdelucio, saw death at my feet, but my faith was so great that I was cured,” the man wrote in this note. “Before Irma Dulce I said, do a miracle in me, and she heard my prayer,” 54-year-old Valdelucio Goncalves went on to explain this experience.
Earlier this year, doctors in the Philippines also made a mistake and pronounced a 3-year-old girl dead when in fact she was very much alive. The toddler woke up at her own funeral, but unfortunately passed away for good shortly after.