Dead Man Wakes Up in Body Bag Just Before Embalming in Mississippi

A 78-year-old Mississippi man who was declared dead by a coroner woke up in a body bag just before being embalmed, according to ABC affiliate WAPT.

Walter Williams, of Lexington, Miss., was believed to have passed away at his home Wednesday night and was pronounced dead by the coroner at 9 p.m. local time.

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"I stood there and watched them put him in a body bag and zipped it up," Williams' nephew, Eddie Hester, told WAPT. 

Workers at Porter and Sons Funeral Home were preparing to embalm the man, but he began kicking from inside the body bag. He was rushed to a hospital.

Holmes County coroner Dexter Howard told WAPT that Williams' pacemaker could have shut down temporarily and then restarted.

"He was not dead, long story short," funeral home manager Byron Porter told WAPT.

Despite their initial anguish, his family is thrilled.

"I don't know how long he's going to be here, but I know he's back right now," Hester told WAPT. "That's all that matters.”

"It was a miraculous moment. Never in my life have I seen anything like it," Howard added.

Last August, 37-year-old Tony Yahle, from West Carrollton, Ohio, was revived after his heart stopped beating for 45 minutes.

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