(CNN) For nearly two weeks, Shirell Powell stood vigil over her brother's bedside in a New York hospital, believing there was nothing more doctors could do to save him.

She was told he was brain-dead -- the result of a narcotics overdose -- so in late July 2018, a grieving Powell gave her permission to take him off life support and her brother was pronounced dead.

A couple of weeks later, Powell was notified that the man she was about to lay to rest was someone with a similar name, Freddy Clarence Williams. Her brother, 40-year-old Frederick Williams, was very much alive.

Powell is suing St. Barnabas Hospital for negligence and is seeking monetary relief. She says she "suffered severe emotional harm and injuries" as a result of the hospital mistakenly identifying the unconscious man as her brother, according to court documents.

Steven Clark, a spokesman for the Bronx, New York, hospital, said it doesn't comment on pending litigation, but that the hospital doesn't "believe the claim has any merit."

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