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Corpse Proves Yankee Fan a Stand-Up Guy

Puerto Rico man receives last wish: to be mourned upright

By the Associated Press

Posted Aug 19, 2008 3:13 PM CDT

(AP) – A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing—even in death. A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing for his 3-day wake, the AP reports. Dressed in a Yankees cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped upright in his mother's living room.

"He wanted to be happy, standing," said Pantoja's brother Carlos.

The body of deceased Angel Pantoja Medina, left, stands leaning against a wall during his wake as unidentified people attend his wake in his mother's home in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The body of deceased Angel Pantoja Medina, left, stands leaning against a wall during his wake as unidentified people attend his wake in his mother's home in San Juan, Puerto Rico.   (Juan Alicea Mercado)
The body of deceased Angel Pantoja Medina stands erect and leans against a wall by his coffin during his own wake in his mother's home in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Monday, Aug. 18, 2008.
The body of deceased Angel Pantoja Medina stands erect and leans against a wall by his coffin during his own wake in his mother's home in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Monday, Aug. 18, 2008.   (Juan Alicea Mercado)
Carlos Medina, right, kisses the cheek of his deceased brother Angel Pantoja Medina who stands erect, leaning against a wall during Pantoja's wake in their mother's home in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Carlos Medina, right, kisses the cheek of his deceased brother Angel Pantoja Medina who stands erect, leaning against a wall during Pantoja's wake in their mother's home in San Juan, Puerto Rico.   (Juan Alicea Mercado)
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Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

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