Polish woman declared dead wakes up 11 hours later in morgue

Janina Kolkiewicz

A 91-year-old Polish woman was declared dead and spent hours in a morgue before waking up, to the astonishment of hospital staff and relatives. Her demise and resurrection had apparently created an appetite, as she ate soup and pancakes.

Janina Kolkiewicz was declared dead by local medics in a small town of Ostrow Lubelski in eastern Poland, reported TVP public broadcaster. She had no pulse, was not breathing and her eyes didn't react to light.

But 11 hours later she woke up inside a body bag in the cold chamber of the local morgue. The dramatic event happened on November 6, but the information emerged in the local press only on Thursday.

"I was sure she was dead," Kolkiewicz's doctor, Wieslawa Czyz, who has 28 years of medical practice, told TVP. "I'm stunned, I don't understand what happened. Her heart had stopped beating, she was no longer breathing."

Kolkiewicz has no children and was never married. Her niece has been taking care of the old woman in her dotage.

"My aunt has no inkling of what happened since she has late-stage dementia," shocked niece Bogumila Kolkiewicz told Dziennik Wschodni, a local newspaper.

Bogumila added that when she delivered the woman home, Janina "was freezing and asked for a hot cup of tea."

Then she ate a bowl of soup and two pancakes, showing a good appetite, added her niece.

Police authorities have started an investigation into the case.

In another November miracle resurrection, Zachariah Kasagga, a fisherman in Uganda, also rose from the dead after being buried. However he died hours later in hospital.

Also in Africa, Brighton Dama Zanthe, 34, after a long illness at home in Zimbabwe in May 2013. However when the mourners paid tribute to him lying in the coffin, they noticed his legs were moving. The 'deceased' man turned out to be very much alive and was immediately taken to hospital.