A cremation ceremony in Thailand took a shocking turn when temple workers discovered a 65-year-old woman alive inside her coffin just as the rituals were about to begin, this on November 23. Staff at Wat Rat Prakongtham, on the outskirts of Bangkok, noticed movement during preparations and opened the coffin to find Chonthirat Sakulkoo breathing and tapping on the wooden interior.
Her family had traveled nearly 500 km (about 310 miles) with paperwork they believed confirmed her death, only to learn the documents were not official death certificates required under Thai law. Attempts to donate her organs and secure an autopsy were delayed as various agencies declined to proceed without the proper certification. Concerned about decomposition, the family turned to the temple for a free cremation ceremony.
Temple staff halted the process immediately after hearing knocking. Emergency responders then transported the woman to a nearby hospital, where doctors confirmed on November 24 that she had not suffered cardiac arrest or respiratory failure. Instead, she had experienced extreme hypoglycaemia—critically low blood sugar that can mimic death by causing deep unresponsiveness.
Cases like hers highlight how certain medical conditions can blur the line between life and death, leading to chilling near-misses. Catalepsy is one of these conditions, which can make people fall into a sleep so deep that they appear to be deceased. It has even been reported that some unfortunate individuals mistaken for dead have been accidentally buried alive.
Click through the following gallery and get to know some of these eerie incidents.