Kaleidoscope Eyes
August 13th, 2009, 05:35 PM
(Aug. 10) - A baby who had been found alive after being declared dead by doctors has died in Paraguay, the BBC reported Monday.
The strange and sad saga began last week when doctors at a state hospital in Asuncion, Paraguay, told Jose Alvarenga on Friday that his premature baby had been pronounced dead shortly after birth, the Telegraph reported.
The hospital delivered the baby's body in a temporary coffin to Alvarenga's home a few hours later.
Mourning relatives were shocked when they heard the baby cry, The Associated Press reported.
"I opened [the coffin] to look at his remains and found that the baby was breathing," Alvarenga said. "I began to cry."
But Angel has since lost his fight to live, the BBC reported.
Officials are investigating to determine whether there was any negligence involved. The AP said that doctors also had initially told Alvarenga that the baby was a girl.
"This is a very unusual case," said Ernesto Weber, head of pediatric intensive care at the hospital, according to told the Agence France-Presse.
http://news.aol.com/article/dead-baby-found-alive-in-coffin-in/609390
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Wow, what are the odds? It wouldn't be the first time that someone has been pronounced dead and later turned out to be alive--sometimes heartbeats and breathing can be shallow enough to appear nonexistent when the doctor makes the call, but it's still not something you hear about often. Lucky the baby was at the home that night, instead of in the hospital morgue. Not too many cultures these days seem to keep the body at the home for the wake rather than at a funeral home. Even then, modern wakes happen after the funeral in a lot of cases.
The article linked to this one (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8194262.stm), which has a few more details about the cause of death. Basically, the child was premature and very small (weighed just over 1lbs), and his vital organs weren't developed/strong enough.
How terrible, to have to go through the same death twice.
The strange and sad saga began last week when doctors at a state hospital in Asuncion, Paraguay, told Jose Alvarenga on Friday that his premature baby had been pronounced dead shortly after birth, the Telegraph reported.
The hospital delivered the baby's body in a temporary coffin to Alvarenga's home a few hours later.
Mourning relatives were shocked when they heard the baby cry, The Associated Press reported.
"I opened [the coffin] to look at his remains and found that the baby was breathing," Alvarenga said. "I began to cry."
But Angel has since lost his fight to live, the BBC reported.
Officials are investigating to determine whether there was any negligence involved. The AP said that doctors also had initially told Alvarenga that the baby was a girl.
"This is a very unusual case," said Ernesto Weber, head of pediatric intensive care at the hospital, according to told the Agence France-Presse.
http://news.aol.com/article/dead-baby-found-alive-in-coffin-in/609390
---
Wow, what are the odds? It wouldn't be the first time that someone has been pronounced dead and later turned out to be alive--sometimes heartbeats and breathing can be shallow enough to appear nonexistent when the doctor makes the call, but it's still not something you hear about often. Lucky the baby was at the home that night, instead of in the hospital morgue. Not too many cultures these days seem to keep the body at the home for the wake rather than at a funeral home. Even then, modern wakes happen after the funeral in a lot of cases.
The article linked to this one (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8194262.stm), which has a few more details about the cause of death. Basically, the child was premature and very small (weighed just over 1lbs), and his vital organs weren't developed/strong enough.
How terrible, to have to go through the same death twice.