A man declared ‘dead’ by doctors was found alive after he was kept in the mortuary freezer for over seven hours in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district, India.
While the family’s sorrow turned to happiness after finding the man alive, they alleged negligence on the part of doctors who had declared him dead.
The victim, Sreekesh Kumar, met with an accident on Thursday night. His family immediately rushed him to the hospital, where he was declared dead, and his body was sent to the mortuary for post-mortem.
On Friday morning, the police arrived to file ‘panchnama’, a document signed by family members after identifying the body and agreeing to an autopsy. It was then that the relatives noticed Sreekesh showing signs of life.
The family members immediately alerted the doctors and Sreekesh was moved to the district hospital for treatment.
“Trust science”?
Speaking to India Today TV, Sreekesh’s brother-in-law, Kishori Lal, claimed that the family members took Sreekesh to three hospitals before he was declared dead by the doctor on emergency duty at the district hospital.
Kishori Lal alleged, “The doctor who was on emergency duty did a checkup, but did not give treatment. He said there is neither pulse nor BP(blood pressure)...he is dead.”
He further claimed that Sreekesh was bundled off to the mortuary around 4:30 am. He accused the doctor on duty of carelessness and negligence.
Meanwhile, Moradabad’s chief medical superintendent, Dr Shiv Singh, said, “Dr Manoj Yadav was on emergency duty. At night a patient named Sreekesh had come in a critical condition and was seen by him at around 3 am.”
Dr Shiv Singh added, “He (emergency doctor) told me he had examined the patient multiple times and found no heartbeat. Therefore, he was declared dead. In the morning, a police tam and his (Sreekesh) family found him alive.”
Calling it “rarest of rare cases”, Dr Shiv Singh said, “Sometimes there are problems in declaring someone dead. For example, there is “suspended animation’ where there is temporary cessation of many vital organs without death.”