In a shocking incident, a patient who was declared ‘dead’ by ambulance workers in the UK woke up in a hospital hours later. Notably, a 50-year-old woman was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital in County Durham on Friday by paramedics who thought she had died following an “incident” earlier that day, The Guardian reported. However, she later came back to life in the hospital. 

After the incident, The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) apologised to the patient’s family and said an inquiry had begun.

Andrew Hodge, Director of paramedicine, stated, “As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we opened an investigation and contacted the patient’s family. We are deeply sorry for the distress that this has caused them. A full review of this incident is being undertaken, and we are unable to comment any further at this stage. The colleagues involved are being supported appropriately, and we will not be commenting further about any individuals at this point.”

It has now been reported that the woman has subsequently died. Durham Police told The Independent, ”Officers are investigating following the death of a woman in her 50s. The death is currently being treated as unexpected and a postmortem will now be carried out.”

The incident comes five months after a report was published alleging how North East Ambulance Service workers had concealed failures and withheld evidence from inquests. One case was highlighted noting how a paramedic declared a teenager dead rather than trying to perform CPR. 

The report said, ”Leadership dysfunction was allowed to continue for far too long and this had a major impact on how teams within different directorates operated. A defensiveness grew and affected team operations, transparency, candour, and judgment. They also clearly impacted the health and wellbeing of staff.”

Dame Marianne Griffiths who published the report, paid tribute to the families who shared their experiences and said, ”It is clear that they are not only devastated by the loss of their loved ones but also by the ambulance service’s response to the legitimate questions about their care.”