Questions linger after 82-year-old woman starts breathing after pronounced dead at LI nursing home
PORT JEFFERSON, Long Island (WABC) -- Saturday morning at 11:15, an 82-year-old woman was pronounced dead at Waters Edge Rehab and Nursing Center in Port Jefferson.
At 1:30 p.m., she was taken to the O.B. Davis Funeral Home in Miller Place - about four miles away.
Half an hour later, imagine the shock when someone at the funeral home discovered that woman was still breathing.
No one at the funeral home would comment on Monday - they instead released a statement saying, 'Out of respect for the privacy and confidentiality of the families, we are honored to serve, we are not in a position to comment further on this matter.'
Suffolk County Police confirm the unidentified woman was taken from the funeral home to a local hospital, where her condition is unknown.
On Monday, at the nursing home where the initial false death declaration was made, staff threatened to call the police when Eyewitness News attempted to ask questions about their error.
More questions are coming from the state - 'The New York State Department of Health has begun an investigation. As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment at this time."
The state Attorney General is also looking into the matter, saying, 'This is an awful situation that caused unnecessary trauma for the impacted resident and her loved ones.'
News of this came on the heels of a similar incident in Iowa. Employees at a hospice care facility mistakenly pronounced a woman dead, only for her to be gasping for air in the body bag that arrived at the funeral home.
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