Polish woman who woke up in morgue recovering at home

An elderly Polish woman is recovering at home after she woke up in a body bag at a morgue after being declared dead by her family doctor. Janina Kolkiewicz, 91, spent 11 hours in cold storage before staff spotted her moving.

Kolkiewicz's family said they were "in shock" after their aunt, who is in the late stages of dementia, turned out to be alive. After returning home she warmed up with a bowl of soup and two pancakes and seemed none the worse for her adventure.

The BBC quotes a Polish newspaper, Dziennik Wschodni, as saying preparations had been made for Kolkiewicz's funeral in the town of Ostrow Lubelski. The police have now launched an investigation into the incident.

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Kolkiewicz's niece, Bogumila, had called her family doctor after she returned home to find her aunt did not seem to be breathing or have a pulse. Dr Wieslawa Czyz declared her dead and wrote out a death certificate. She was then taken to the morgue.

Speaking to a Polish TV station, Czyz said: "I was sure she was dead. I'm stunned. I don't understand what happened. Her heart had stopped beating, she was no longer breathing."

The death certificate has now been declared invalid. Kolkiewicz told her family she felt "normal, fine" on her return and is not thought to understand what happened to her.

Earlier this year, in the US, a Mississippi man, Walter Williams, also came 'back from the dead' in a body bag at a funeral home where workers were preparing to embalm him. They noticed his legs starting to kick - he then began breathing again.

Doctors said the combination of medicines Williams was taking could have caused him to appear dead. The 78-year-old died of natural causes just 15 days later, says The Independent.