Dead man wakes up, then dies en route to hospital

Mother’s touch moves Poll Officer’s body kept at mortuary in Hanur. But doctors in Mysuru hospital declare him dead on arrival.

Hanur/Mysuru: In a bizarre twist of fate, an officer deputed for election duty was pronounced dead by doctors and was later discovered to be alive and breathing inside the mortuary just before the post-mortem. Though he was immediately shifted to a bigger hospital in Mysuru, the officer could not survive and was declared brought dead. 

The incident occurred at Hanur in Chamarajanagar district yesterday and the deceased is 40-year-old Jagadish, an employee at the Treasury Department. He was deputed for election duty and had come to Hanur yesterday to attend a training on elections organised for Assistant Returning Officers and Presiding Officers at Vivekananda School.

At the school at around 10 am, Jagadish reportedly tripped while climbing steps and he sustained severe injuries to his head and chin. The back of his head was severely bleeding due to the impact and the officer fell unconscious. Other election officers immediately rushed Jagadish to Holy Cross Hospital in Hanur.

The doctors at the hospital, however, declared that Jagadish was brought dead and shifted the body to the mortuary at the Hanur Primary Healthcare Centre. The doctors had mentioned heart attack as the cause of death.

Hearing the tragic news, Chamarajanagar Deputy Commissioner D.S. Ramesh visited the hospital and saw Jagadish who was lying still. He collected information from officials and medical staff and left the place.

Mother’s touch

Before the post-mortem, Jagadish’s mother went to the mortuary to see her son and she touched his hands, barely controlling her emotions. However, she felt that his hands and legs moved and she immediately alerted the staff over there. In-charge Taluk Medical Officer Dr. Prakash rushed to the mortuary and found that Jagadish indeed had the pulse and was alive and breathing.

Dr. Prakash asked his staff to immediately shift Jagadish to a bigger hospital in Mysuru. But as fate would have willed, Jagadish died en route and the doctors at the private hospital pronounced him brought dead. Jagadish was suffering from low BP, said his family members.

Jagadish’s ECG was conducted at the Holy Cross Hospital by Chamarajanagar District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr. Vishveshwaraiah and the ECG report was flat and there was no pulse and was as such declared dead. But by evening, the Taluk Medical Officer had reported the pulse and he was shifted to Mysuru but he died on the way.

Dr. Prakash told reporters that Jagadish fell and injured his head and did not regain consciousness till the afternoon. Hanur Tahsildar Guruprasad said that the incident has been taken seriously and will be investigated.