What happens if you’re still alive after doctors declare you dead?

Velma Thomas’heart stopped three times and she had no brain activity (Picture: News Channel 5)

Velma Thomas had been clinically brain dead for 17 hours when a miracle happened.

The mum of two had had a heart attack at her West Virginia home and doctors at the Charleston Area Medical Centre fought in vain to bring her back to life.

After the 59-year-old’s heart stopped three times and medics could no longer detect brain activity, she was declared dead, and family and friends said their goodbyes.

Her son, Tim, told news reports at the time: ‘Her skin had already started hardening, her hands and toes were curling up – there was no life there.’ The grieving family left the hospital began to plan her funeral.

Velma, who was a registered donor, was kept alive long after signs of life ceased, so arrangements could be made to harvest her organs. Ironically – this is what enabled her to return from the dead after her heart attack in 2008.

Ten minutes after her ventilator was turned off, Velma moved her arm, coughed and asked for her son.

Velma’s family and friends had said their goodbyes (Picture: News Channel 5)

The family believed it was a miracle. But in reality, Velma was one of very few people to experience Lazarus Syndrome.

Also known as Lazarus phenomenon or autoresuscitation, it is a medical event where a person’s heart spontaneously restarts after they have been officially pronounced dead. It is named after the biblical tale of Lazarus of Bethany who Jesus raised from the dead after four days in a tomb.

Dr Hugh Coyne says Lazarus syndrome is extremely rare – with around 70 known cases worldwide – but he warns that more may take place without being reported.

‘It perhaps might not be disclosed quite as often as it occurs because of legal and ethical sensitivities’, Dr Coyne tells Metro.

While he has not witnessed Lazarus syndrome firsthand, he has been at many resuscitation attempts, and can explain how it happens.

‘Generally, we do CPR when someone’s heart stops beating. We do chest compressions and breathing support to try and help keep oxygen circulating. With Lazarus Syndrome, the heart restarts spontaneously afterwards, which seems extraordinary, but there are a few scientific reasons as to why it might happen.’

Dr Hugh Coyne says Lazarus syndrome is extremely rare(Picture: Supplied)

It is believed to be due to changes in pressure in the chest, delayed effects of drugs like adrenaline or shifts in potassium and acid balance in the blood, says Dr Coyne, who runs his own practice Coyne Medical.

And it is for this reason that medics continue to monitor individuals after death.

‘One of the key roles of a doctor is declaring a patient dead, which is one of the sadder things about the profession, but one we approach with great dignity and respect for the patient and thoughtfulness for the family,’ he explains.

After time of death is called, doctors check the patient’s vitals signs; their pulse, heart beat and pupillary response.

‘We also listen for evidence of the heartbeat and breath sounds with the stethoscope. It is quite a thorough check to make sure that the patient is deceased. And clinicians will remain around the patient afterwards.’

Overall survival of Lazarus Syndrome is 30% (Picture: Getty Images)

But even if a patient’s heart does magically restart after this point, their chance of survival a second time is low.

‘For people who have experienced Lazarus Syndrome overall survival is about 30% and only about 15% would have a normal neurological outcome, and as you’d expect, those would be people who are younger,’ explains Dr Coyne.

So should we worry about being falsely declared dead if one day our heart stops working? Not necessarily, he says, adding that doctors do not just abandon a patient the minute resuscitation has failed.

‘This is a rarity. The resuscitation process is quite long, it’s very rigorously controlled and monitored. For someone who is much older, with lots of medical conditions, their chance of survival would be very small, so doing a prolonged attempt at resuscitation is not the best thing to do.

There are around 70 known cases of Lazarus Syndrome worldwide(Picture: Getty Images)

‘But if you have a young patient who has a cardiac arrest, there’s a good chance of survival, then teams keep trying for as long as needed.’

When this fails, there are lots of strict protocols post death, says Dr Coyne.

‘Even after someone has been declared dead, nurses and doctors will still be attending to the patient, making sure that they are cared for with lots of dignity and respect,’ he explains. ‘If there are drips in their arm, for example, those will be carefully taken out. People aren’t just left there, we still have an obligation to care for the patients, even after they’re deceased.’

Luckily for Velma, her body didn’t make it to the morgue that day in 2008. She went on to live for another 15 years, passing away last year at the age of 76.

Other people who came back from the dead

Judith Johnson visited a Delaware hospital for what she thought was a bad case of indigestion in 2008. An hour later, her husband was told she was dead. Later, a morgue worker found her ‘corpse’ still breathing. She later recovered.

20-year-old Timesha Beauchamp was declared dead in September 2020 after paramedics rushed to her home outside Detroit, USA, when she stopped breathing during a medical episode. She was pronounced dead over the phone by a doctor on information from the paramedics, who said they tried without success for 30 minutes to revive her. Workers at the funeral home later found her gasping for air as they unzipped the body bag. She was taken to hospital but tragically died weeks later.

An 88-year-old Czech woman declared dead by the coroner after her husband found her unresponsive in bed last year was being placed in a coffin when morticians discovered she was very much alive.

A 65-year-old man in Japan was found dead in his room at home in 2002. He was taken to hospital where medics tried to resuscitate him for 35 minutes before pronouncing him dead. 20 minutes later, a police officer who had been called for the postmortem investigation found the patient moving in the mortuary.

Mourners at the funeral of three-year-old Camila Roxana Martinez Mendoza, of Villa de Ramos, Mexico, spotted the glass lid of her coffin fogging up. Her grandmother then saw the toddler’s eyes moving and a faint pulse. First responders rushed her to the hospital and began performing life-saving measures, but were unsuccessful.

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