Mr Wilkinson was pronounced dead by staff at the Royal Preston Hospital on February 1.
But 30 minutes after he was given the Last Rites doctors realised that his pulse had returned. He survived for two days before being pronounced dead a second time.
An inquest in the city heard that his return to life was known as Lazarus Syndrome - the spontaneous return of circulation once attempts at resuscitation have failed.
The syndrome takes its name from the biblical story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. There are only 38 recorded cases in the world.
John Whittaker, a consultant at the Royal Preston's accident and emergency department, said it was "not a small thing" to pronounce a patient dead. "You make absolutely certain," he added.
In Mr Wilkinson's case medical staff had worked on him for 15 minutes before acknowledging that there was nothing more they could do to help him.
Mr Whittaker told the hearing: "There is a phenomenon known as Lazarus Syndrome. It is incredibly rare - there have only been 38 cases of this ever in the world."
He said that the patient's pulse had returned as a result of the drugs he had been administered.
Mr Wilkinson, a roofer, was pronounced dead a second time on February 3.
But 30 minutes after he was given the Last Rites doctors realised that his pulse had returned. He survived for two days before being pronounced dead a second time.
An inquest in the city heard that his return to life was known as Lazarus Syndrome - the spontaneous return of circulation once attempts at resuscitation have failed.
The syndrome takes its name from the biblical story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. There are only 38 recorded cases in the world.
John Whittaker, a consultant at the Royal Preston's accident and emergency department, said it was "not a small thing" to pronounce a patient dead. "You make absolutely certain," he added.
In Mr Wilkinson's case medical staff had worked on him for 15 minutes before acknowledging that there was nothing more they could do to help him.
Mr Whittaker told the hearing: "There is a phenomenon known as Lazarus Syndrome. It is incredibly rare - there have only been 38 cases of this ever in the world."
He said that the patient's pulse had returned as a result of the drugs he had been administered.
Mr Wilkinson, a roofer, was pronounced dead a second time on February 3.
And the reason I posted this curious case is because a similar thing happened to a friend of mine who lost her 27 year old daughter suddenly to an allergic reaction. When the daughter was pronounced dead, the hospital administered a drug to help preserve her organs for she was to be a donor. The same thing happened though---within an hour, her heart started beating again. My poor friend--she had to sit around and wait for her daughter to die, again.
Wouldn't wish that on anybody!!
1 comment:
Boy that would be terrible. Seeing
someone die once is enough let
alone having to see them die the
second time. Thanks for putting
the twins on the blog. If I get
a picture I'll let youknow. The
cloud deal is interesting too.
They will have to get Ed W. checking into that one.
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