Dead Man Wakes Up Before Trip to Morgue

His family was notified of his 'death' before he started moving
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 22, 2015 4:03 PM CDT
Updated May 24, 2015 7:00 PM CDT
Dead Man Wakes Up Before Trip to Morgue
   (Shutterstock)

Another entry for the not-dead-yet files: A man who had been pronounced dead in Milwaukee began moving around as a medical team was preparing to take him to the morgue, reports WISN. The strange tale of 46-year-old Thomas Sancomb began earlier this week when his worried girlfriend called 911 because she couldn't reach him. A crew from the Fire Department got into his apartment and found him collapsed near the foot of his bed, "cold to the touch and in rigor." He seemed so clearly dead that they didn't try to resuscitate, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. An investigator from the medical examiner's office showed up, and Sancomb was pronounced dead. Authorities called his brother with the news.

At that point, a crew from the medical examiner's office arrived to take the body to the morgue when, lo and behold, Sancomb had "spontaneous respirations" and started moving his limbs, reports AP. Paramedics then returned to the scene and took him to the hospital instead of the morgue. His brother says Sancomb is doing better every day, but didn't go into detail. As for the blown medical call: "We're doing an internal investigation to make sure that everything we did followed protocol," says an assistant fire chief. "It's an active investigation, so I can't comment in detail." (This woman actually woke up in the morgue. As did this guy. And this one.)

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