A woman in Argentina was shocked to discover that her mother was still alive seconds before she was about to be cremated.
The 89-year-old mother, who has not been named, was admitted to a private hospital in Resistencia, a city in northeast Argentina, after complaining of chest pain on Saturday.
The following day, doctors at the facility gave a death certificate to her daughter, 54, stating that the woman had died following a cardiac arrest.
As funeral workers prepared to pass the elderly woman through the conveyor belt at a crematorium, her daughter managed to stop the cremation after noticing she still had vital signs.
According to the newspaper Diario Norte, the 89-year-old woman had been in a private clinic since Saturday.
When her daughter came to visit the next day, she was told by staff that her mother had died of a cardiorespiratory arrest and was given her death certificate.
The local police said: ‘(The daughter) went to the sanatorium at 8.45am where she met with a doctor who told her about the death of her mother after suffering cardiorespiratory arrest, for which she was sent to the crematorium on Velez Sarsfield Avenue and hired the funeral and cremation service.’
According to the news site Info Veloz, at the funeral, the daughter noticed that her mother still had vital signs as she was about to enter the incinerator and quickly told employees to stop the cremation.
The woman then sent an audio to one of her relatives saying: ‘I just wanted to let you know that mum is still alive. In the end, we were in the cremation room and we saw her with her vital signs. Now we’re going to the clinic.’
The patient was returned to the private clinic where she is currently being treated in intensive care.
Her daughter has reportedly denounced the clinic to the local authorities who confirmed that they will carry out a full investigation.
