A 20-year-old woman who had been declared dead by a doctor was found to be alive at the funeral home where her body had been transported. The authorities had declared that Timesha Beauchamp, a 20-year-old Southfield woman, did not show any signs of life after failing to revive her. Beauchamp had been found unresponsive at her home in Southfield, Michigan, on Saturday, after suffering a cardiac arrest, according to the Southfield Fire Department. The family called 911 and paramedics rushed to the scene and performed CPR and several other “life-reviving methods” before declaring her dead. Southfield fire crews also responded to the 911 call. The paramedics declared that “at that time that she did not have signs of life,” reported
People.
The paramedics noted that Beauchamp had no heartbeat and was not breathing. Based on the real-time medical information relayed to an emergency doctor at a nearby hospital, the doctor declared the woman dead. The doctor said, sending medical data, often referred to as telemetry, is standard operating procedure. The Southfield Fire Department contacted the medical examiner’s office to report the death. Taking into account the woman’s personal medical history and the medical information passed on by the ER physician, the forensic pathologist ruled that there was no need for further forensic examination, said Bill Mullan, a spokesperson for the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The forensic pathologist ordered her body to be released to the family. The Southfield police allegedly saw Beauchamp move and breathe but when they informed the fire crews, they dismissed it as nothing but side effects of the medication they had given her. The body was then transported to the James H. Cole Home for Funerals in Detroit.
After the body arrived at the home, the staff at the funeral were shocked to find that the woman was still breathing. Her chest was rising and falling and then she opened her eyes, they noted “After receiving clearance from the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s office she was transported to our funeral home,” said the funeral home said in a statement. “Upon her arrival at the funeral home, our staff confirmed she was breathing and called EMS.” Beauchamp was rushed to the hospital but there has been no update on her situation. She was seconds away from being embalmed alive. “They would have begun draining her blood to be very, very frank about it,” said Geoffrey Fieger, who was hired by the family, reported
The Guardian. “They were about to embalm her, which is most frightening, had she not had her eyes open … The funeral home unzipping the body bag, literally that’s what happened to Timesha, and seeing her alive with her eyes open.” Beauchamp’s mother was shocked. “My heart is so heavy. Someone pronounced my child dead, and she’s not even dead,” said Beauchamp’s mother, Erica Lattimore.
“While it is our practice not to comment on open investigations, we can confirm that on Sunday, August 23, 2020, we received a call to pick up a Southfield woman who was deceased,” said the mortuary in a statement to
ABC News. “Upon her arrival at the funeral home, our staff confirmed she was breathing and called EMS.” The fire department has confirmed the incident but said the woman’s identity has not been released to respect her family’s privacy. The funeral home said its “thoughts and prayers are with this young woman and her family. Southfield authorities confirmed they were conducting an internal investigation but insisted that the fire and police departments had followed procedures.
