Noelia Serna 2010
Noelia Serna was 45 years old and living in Cali, Columbia when her life took a terrible turn. She had been living for years with Multiple Sclerosis and that condition only compounded the heart attack that she suffered in February of 2010. She was admitted to Cali University where her condition continued to deteriorate. She survived 10 hours on life support before suffering another heart attack. After the second heart attack, doctors tried desperately to revive her but to no avail.
There was no detectable heart rate and no arterial tension. When the respiratory therapist removed the respirator, it was proven that the woman could not breathe on her own. Unable to provoke any response from Noelia Serna, the woman was declared dead. The doctors at the University signed her death certificate and she was eventually sent to the funeral home to be embalmed. Two hours after the woman was declared dead a funeral home worker began the embalming process.
Just as the needle to inject the embalming fluid was inserted into the skin, Noelia Serna moved her arm. The shocked worker then placed his hand by Noelia Serna’s nose and mouth and felt the woman breathing. The worker immediately stopped the procedure and brought the woman back to the hospital. She was alive but in critical condition as doctors once again worked to try and save her life. Expectations at the hospital were low because life signs were so weak but it was better condition than she had been in several hours before.
The case may seem like a strange one but it is not entirely uncommon. Neurosurgeon Juan Mendoza reported that in very rare situations a person’s heart rate and breathing can drop to imperceptible levels. This condition called the Lazarus Syndrome and it can lead doctors to declare a person dies while they are still very much alive. While there was never a follow-up as to whether or not Noelia Serna improved enough to leave the hospital or if she was once again declared dead but it is clear that she either died or came back from the dead or her second heart attack caused her to have Lazarus Syndrome.