South African Man Wakes Up in Morgue Fridge

It was as if he awoke from the dead.

A South African man regained his consciousness in a morgue fridge nearly a day after his relatives believed he had died of an asthma attack, The Associated Press reports.

Shocked morgue workers thought a ghost was screaming when the man, believed to be around 80-years-old, awoke from his 21-hour sleep in the locked refrigerated compartment, morgue owner Ayanda Maqolo said.

"I couldn't believe it!" Maqolo said. "I was also scared. But they are my employees and I had to show them I wasn't scared, so I called the police.

As soon as they pulled a very pale-looking elderly man out, he asked, "how did I get here?" Maqolo said.

A reasonable question. Health department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said that the family called in an undertaker the previous day after the man suffered from an asthma attack and then reported his death.

Maqolo said he sent a driver to pick of the body. "When he got there, the driver examined the body, checked his pulse, looked for a heartbeat, but there was nothing," he told The Associated Press.

The poor South African man is reportedly doing fine. He was taken to a nearby hospital and later discharged. Maqolo the man's family is very happy to have him home.

The morgue owner, however, is still a little shaken up.

"I couldn't sleep last night, I had nightmares," he said, "But today I'm much better."

 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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