In Zaragoza this week, San Juan de Dios hospital reported a highly unusual and disturbing sequence of events that captured public attention. A 90-year-old woman appeared to die, be reclassified as deceased the next day after showing signs of life, and this sequence prompted a formal investigation to understand what occurred during the transition from life to death.
Prosecutors are currently preserving the facts while National Police authorities undertake a comprehensive inquiry. The objective is to determine whether any irregularities, errors, or negligence happened as the case moved from the moment of death declaration to the handling of the body and the subsequent medical reassessment. The ongoing investigation will determine any responsible parties if wrongdoing is found.
The events began last Monday when hospital officials informed the patient’s family, around 11:00 PM, that the woman had died of natural causes. The death was reported without any notable or unusual circumstances, and the family was notified accordingly. Upon arrival at the hospital, the family was told the body had already been moved to the morgue and would later be transported to the Torrero municipal cemetery, a process that meant viewing the body would not be possible at that time.
Thanatopractor notification
The immediate next steps involved coordinating with a funeral home to prepare the body for transport to Zaragoza’s cemetery and to arrange the necessary details with the family ahead of the planned service. Initially, the plan was to have the body prepared for a service the following day, allowing relatives and friends to say their goodbyes in a traditional farewell.
The unexpected moment arrived when the thanatopractor, preparing the body for transfer to a funeral chamber, noticed at the worktable that the elderly woman was not truly deceased. She showed signs of breathing and thus was alive. This surprising discovery triggered the activation of established protocols to secure medical care if required and to re-evaluate the status of the patient.
An urgent call was placed to 061 from the cemetery to dispatch an ambulance to recover the patient from the funeral home. The responding technicians confirmed that she was alive. They transported her back to San Juan de Dios hospital, and the patient reportedly re-entered the facility around 4:00 AM. In effect, the hospital re-certified her as deceased approximately five hours after the initial death notice had been given.
The hospital later explained to the 90-year-old woman’s daughter that the body had initially been in the morgue and could not be viewed, and subsequently she was told that her mother had died and was readmitted to the hospital. The daughter attempted to visit but found her mother in a hospital room rather than in the morgue. A subsequent death was reported around 6:30 PM on the same day, and this death was confirmed again.
The exact causes of the medical misstep remain unclear. The matter has been submitted to the National Police for investigation. The Aragon Police Central Homicide Group is leading the inquiry, under the oversight of the magistrate presiding over Zaragoza’s 12th Court of Inquiry. The outcome will hinge on the findings of a thorough review of the sequence of events and the procedures followed at the hospital and associated facilities.