Grandmother, 70, is saved from being cremated alive when her husband noticed she was still breathing moments before
- Phinij Sopajorn had been in a cold coffin for three days before husband noticed
- Husband Thawin saw she was breathing while he washed her face at the funeral
- He said: ‘I am so glad that I was right about her being alive. I gave her a hug’
A 70-year-old grandmother was saved from being cremated alive when her husband noticed she was still breathing, the family has claimed.
Phinij Sopajorn had been taken to a local temple in Thailand for a Buddhist funeral and was kept in a cold coffin for three days.
When the casket was unloaded her husband, Thawin Sopajorn, 73, began washing her face with a damp flannel – a traditional funeral custom.
Just before Mrs Sopajorn’s body was about to be loaded into the incinerator, Mr Sopajorn says he noticed that she was gently breathing and that her eyelids were flickering.
Phinij Sopajorn, 70, (pictured lying down) was kept in a coffin for three days before being saved from being cremated alive when her husband noticed she was still breathing
He immediately called for help and paramedics arrived and performed CPR before declaring that Mrs Sopajorn was still alive.
The family took her body home where they laid it out next to a warm fan and put hot water bottles on her chest.
Mr Sopajorn said that he had suspected his wife was still alive because her body had not stiffened.
He said: ‘After she stopped breathing on Sunday we put her into the coffin and I thought it was strange that her body was not stiff. I bathed her and her body still moved.
Just before Mrs Sopajorn’s body was about to be loaded into the incinerator, Mr Sopajorn (pictured) noticed that she was gently breathing and that her eyelids were flickering
‘Then during the funeral, I was the last person to touch her before the cremation. I wished for her to live a happy next life and then I saw her eyes start to move.
‘I am so glad that I was right about her being alive. I gave her a hug and called my children, but they thought I had a hallucination.
‘However, they had to believe me as my daughter-in-law who is a doctor checked and confirmed that she was alive, but her pulse was very weak.’
The doctor called the paramedics and they performed CPR on the grandmother. She was breathing and had a pulse but was not responsive or able to talk.
Mr Sopajorn said: ‘I am so glad that I was right about her being alive. I gave her a hug and called my children, but they thought I had a hallucination’
The family are currently nursing her at home while they monitor her condition, though she is not expected to pull through.
Mr Sopajorn added: ‘My wife’s condition is severe and I don’t think she can ever be cured. But she was still alive and it was not her time to die.
‘If she was cremated while she was still alive this would be very bad. How could we allow that? It would be the wrong thing to happen.
‘I am very thankful that I noticed my wife was still alive. We will continue caring for her until she has passed away.’