Shock as man who was declared dead ‘resurrects’
There was drama at Kapkatet Hospital in Kericho county after a 32-year-old man, who had been mistakenly declared dead ‘resurrected’ inside the mortuary.
According to the patient’s uncle, Dennis Langat, his nephew identified as Peter Kiplangat Kigen was rushed to the facility on Tuesday morning after he fainted at home.
Lang’at said when they arrived at the hospital, they were told their kin had already died and they were directed to take the body to the morgue.
At the mortuary the body was received by the mortuary attendant who soon after began the process of preserving it as required.
“They just came, looked at his eyes and told us to take the body to the mortuary as he was already dead,” said Langat.
However, at 10.30 pm, Langat said, as they were waiting for embalming of Kigen’s body, they were informed that he was not dead.
The uncle said the mortuary attendant made an incision on the right leg of the patient to be used in the infusion of formalin but in that process, he regained consciousness and wailed in pain.
The unexpected incident saw all those who were in the mortuary scamper for safety believing that a dead man had ‘resurrected’.
“The mortuary attendant called me into the morgue, and we saw him make movements. We were shocked. We could not understand how they could move a person who is still alive into the mortuary,” Langat said in disbelief.
The hospital’s medical superintendent Gilbert Cheruiyot alleged that the family of Kigen took him to the mortuary even before the medics attended to him.
“The relatives thought that the clinicians were taking their time so immediately they took the body to the mortuary,” said Cheruiyot.