Polish woman declared dead wakes up after spending 11 hours at the local morgue

Polish woman declared dead wakes up after spending 11 hours at the local morgue

Talk about a rude awakening.

Janina Kolkiewicz's niece noticed that her 91-year-old aunt was not breathing earlier this week, so she called a local doctor, who found no pulse, declared Kolkiewicz dead, and filled out a death certificate. The family sent Kolkiewicz's body to the town mortuary while they planned her funeral. Eleven hours later, staff opened the cold storage refrigerator where the body was being kept and found a moving body bag.

"I'm still in shock," the doctor told a Polish newspaper. "She had no vital signs, no pulse, nothing…I'm stunned."

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Kolkiewicz's niece said she wasn't too fazed by the experience, although "she did complain about being cold" upon her return home, so the family fixed her a couple of pancakes and a big bowl of soup.

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Sarah Eberspacher

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.