Coming back from the dead sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it happened to a 23-year-old U.K. man: His pulse began again half an hour after doctors pronounced him dead. Sadly, his heart stopped beating permanently two days later, and a coroner declared death due to natural causes.
It’s not the first time someone has literally come back to life—but, with only 38 cases reported worldwide, it’s pretty rare. The condition is called Lazarus Syndrome, an allusion to the Biblical story in which Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and it occurs when a person’s circulation spontaneously returns after resuscitation attempts fail.
In the past, the syndrome has triggered fears of being buried, or even autopsied, while still alive. It’s a pretty creepy thought… one that we’ll try not to consider ever again.
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Image: flickr / ernstl
