The scene seems straight out of a movie. However, it did indeed take place this Monday, November 24, 2025, near Bangkok.
Chonthirot, 65, who was declared dead a few hours earlier, regained consciousness as her coffin arrived at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham temple.
Found “dead” at her home on the night of November 23, the woman had been suffering from serious health problems for two years. His brother, Mongkol, had signed the documents attesting to the death. He also handed over the papers to the monk in charge of the funeral. It was only when they were transferred to the temple hall that the incredible happened.
A surreal scene: “I almost passed out” admits his brother
As the coffin is moved, a temple worker hears banging and a muffled call coming from inside. He says he lifted the cloth and discovered Chonthirot conscious and moving slightly. Unable to speak but breathing weakly, the woman was immediately treated by emergency services.
In videos posted online, she is seen lying in her coffin, brushing flies from her face as her family looks on in shock. His brother told the media: ”
I was shocked, surprised and happy that my sister was still alive. I almost fainted from surprise. It’s a miracle she woke up.”
The abbot of the temple, a direct witness to the scene, assured that he had never experienced such an event and undertook to finance the care of the sixty-year-old.
A rare but documented phenomenon
If the story impresses, it is not isolated. In recent years, several similar cases have been reported around the world:
- In the Czech Republic, an 88-year-old woman declared dead regained consciousness in her coffin;
- In India, an 80-year-old man woke up in the ambulance taking him to his cremation;
- In the United Kingdom, a fifty-year-old woman thought dead opened her eyes in hospital;
- In France, in 2022, a garbage collector from Neuilly-sur-Marne woke up in a body bag.
These “returns to life” are often grouped under the name Lazarus syndrome. This refers to the biblical episode where Jesus brings the “sleeping” Lazarus back to life. In medical practice, this is most often a false diagnosis, linked to extreme situations where vital signs become difficult to perceive.
“The diagnosis of death is clinical, almost empirical”
According to Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of True Medical, the most plausible explanation remains a diagnostic error, although these cases are exceptional.
“The diagnosis of death is clinical, almost empirical. In fact, there is no additional examination, such as an X-ray or a blood test, to make this diagnosis. The latter is based, in practice, on a “cluster of arguments” such as the absence of pulse, respiration or electrical activity of the heart (flat electrocardiogram).”.
However, certain situations can distort this assessment, as he points out.
“We are very wary of profound bradycardia, which is characterized by a heart rate so low that the pulse may appear absent, drug poisoning or even hypothermia, which can lead to the wrong conclusion of death even though the person is not dead.
These extreme states slow down vital functions to the point of making them almost imperceptible, exposing them to diagnostic errors, even if these remain (fortunately!) very rare.