A young road accident victim was declared dead by doctors, only to recover consciousness moments before his post-mortem was due to start.
Shankar Shanmukh Gombi, 27, suffered serious head injuries from a motorcycle crash in Mahalingapur, India, on February 27.
He was admitted to private hospital in Belgavi, where doctors said they could do nothing for him and switched off his life support system.
Speaking to the Times of India, family members said that the hospital had told them Shankar had died.
"We brought him by an ambulance on Sunday night to the government hospital in Mahalingapur,” a relative of the victim said.
“Staff at the government hospital declared him dead and sent the body for postmortem."
"However," they added, "a senior officer in the postmortem room who was prepping for the procedure said that he observed movements. On closer examination, he found that he was alive.”
It was the following day when Shankar’s body was transferred to a government hospital in Mahalingapur for a post-mortem.
Dr SS Galgali told Indian news service the News Minute that a large crowd “of nearly 2000” gathered around the ambulance as it arrived carrying Shankar’s body and wouldn’t allow him near.
Dr Galgali said: “The doctor on duty couldn't even check Shankar properly and the pulse oximeter indicated nothing. Seeing this, the uncontrollable mob took him to the postmortem room."
He added that when he observed the “body” he noticed that Shankar’s arms and legs were trembling and realised that he was still alive.”
He ordered the Ambu Bag portable respirator to be removed from Shankar’s throat.
“After a while he started to breathe on his own and started shaking his hands when I tapped it,” he said.
Doctors at the private hospital had exercised "bad judgement" when they removed him from the ventilator and declared him dead, he said.
The family is yet to lodge an official complaint against the private hospital.
Shankar is now receiving treatment in another hospital where his condition is said to be improving.
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