HEFEI, China, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- An infant in China, believed to have suffered "apparent death," was saved from cremation when he began crying at a funeral parlor, doctors said.
Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital, in Hefei, issued a death certificate Oct. 28 for the unidentified boy, born Oct. 9, citing pneumonia, congenital choanal atresia and cerebral injuries, China's official Xinhua news agency reported Thursday.
He was to have been cremated under normal procedures Wednesday, but awoke, crying, the Hefei Municipal Funeral Parlor said.
"This rarely happens. There was no breath or pulse, and the body was cold. The extremely feeble heartbeat and breath would only have been detected by medical equipment," a member of the investigating team said.
Doctors said the incident is an example of "apparent death," the cessation of life as indicated by the absence of all vital functions.
The baby was receiving treatment in the hospital's intensive care unit, and experts from Beijing will be asked for consultation, Xinhua said.
