Woman found alive at funeral home dies at hospital
Doctor who didn’t attend the scene pronounced 20-year-old deceased
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Your support makes all the difference.A young woman who was found alive at a Detroit funeral home after she was declared dead has now died, an attorney representing her family has said.
Timesha Beauchamp died on Sunday at Children’s Hospital in Detroit, Geoffrey Fieger said in a news release on Monday.
The 20-year-old’s family members called 911 from a home in Southfield on 23 August after she appeared to be suffering from severe breathing difficulties.
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics responded to the scene and performed CPR and other life reviving methods for 30 minutes, police said.
A doctor who didn’t attend the scene pronounced Beauchamp deceased after one of the first responders reported by telephone that she had been unresponsive for 30 minutes and showed no signs of life.
Beauchamp was transported to James H Cole Funeral when staff noticed saw that her chest was moving and found the young woman was alive.
“While it is our practice not to comment on open investigations, we can confirm that on Sunday, 23 August 2020 we received a call to pick up a Southfield woman who was deceased,” the mortuary said in a statement to ABC News at the time.
“Upon her arrival at the funeral home, our staff confirmed she was breathing and called EMS.”
Beauchamp, who had cerebral palsy, was then hospitalised and had been in critical condition ever since.
Beauchamp’s family said in a statement on Monday that they are “devastated” by her death.
“This is the second time our beloved Timesha has been pronounced dead, but this time she isn’t coming back,” the family said.
They have filed a $50 million federal lawsuit against the city of Southfield and the four first responders who attended Beauchamp.
“She died as a result of massive brain damage that was suffered when Southfield paramedics wrongly declared her dead, and failed to provide her much needed oxygen,” Mr Fieger said.
“Instead, she was sent to a funeral home which then discovered that her eyes were open, and that she was alive.”
Southfield Fire Chief Johnny Menifee told reporters in late August that the young woman may have experienced Lazarus syndrome and the city is investigating the case.
The Lazarus phenomenon is defined as when people come back to life without assistance after CPR has failed.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
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