Walter Williams, 78, who awoke in a funeral home after coroners mistakenly declared him dead, has died after heart struggles

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

A man who woke up in a body bag at a Mississippi funeral home in late February has been pronounced dead, again.

Walter Williams, 78, died on Thursday morning, just over two weeks since a coroner last confirmed Williams’s death. “I think he’s gone this time,” Williams’ nephew Eddie Hester told local news station 16 WAPT.

On 26 February, family members believed Williams had died and called a coroner, Dexter Howard, who incorrectly pronounced him dead.

The next day, workers at Porter and Sons funeral home in Lexington heard rustling coming from a body bag that contained Williams. They opened the bag to discover Williams, who was literally alive and kicking. He was then taken to a hospital.

Howard, who also confirmed Williams’s “second” death, said he believed the error occurred because the man’s pacemaker had stopped, then restarted. Funeral director Byron Porter also thought the pacemaker had stopped.

“We were getting ready transport him to the embalming table when we noticed he was moving, and had activities,” Porter told local news station WLBT.

Williams, a lifelong farmer and father of 11, had been in hospice care for congestive heart failure since February.