Medical Memoir: Were Dead Truly 'Saved By The Bell' Before The Modern Guidelines Of Declaring Someone Dead Evolved?

Remember when in the Ep 8 of Season 1, Friends, Ross's 'nana' or grandmother dies and then wakes up again? Well, only to die a few moments later. However, she did rise from death. What if we tell you there is a science behind it? It is called the Lazarus Phenomenon or the Lazarus Syndrome, which we will come back later.

Few fears in history have been as chilling as the thought of waking up six feet under. Long before modern medical technology, the line between life and death was frighteningly blurry.

Without stethoscopes, electrocardiograms, or ventilators, doctors relied on mirrors held under the nose, or fingers pressed against a wrist, to declare someone dead. Mistakes were inevitable.

Accounts from as early as the 14th century suggest this nightmare was not unfounded. When the tomb of philosopher John Duns Scotus was reportedly opened, his body was discovered outside his coffin, his hands torn in a way that suggested he had tried to claw his way free. Coming back to another popular culture reference in the movie The Autopsy of Jane Doe, there is a mention of how dead bodies have bells tied to their ankle to ensure they are truly dead. This is a practice rooted deeply in history to avoid accidental burial.

Taphophobia: Accidental Deaths

Centuries ago, in 17th-century England, Alice Blunden of Basingstoke collapsed after drinking poppy tea, which acted as a sedative. Declared dead, she was buried swiftly. Days later, children heard noises near her grave. By the time she was exhumed, she was still clinging to life, but ultimately perished after a second premature burial.

Such tragedies gave rise to a cultural obsession known as taphophobia, the fear of being buried alive. The anxiety was so widespread that it inspired not only literature, such as Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting 1844 story The Premature Burial, but also a wave of bizarre inventions designed to save the mistakenly entombed.

Coffin Bells and Safety Devices

The 19th century saw one of the strangest solutions: the grave bell. In cemeteries like Cooper Cemetery in Ohio, a pipe was installed leading from the coffin to the surface, with a string tied to the corpse’s hand. At the surface, the string connected to a bell fixed to a post. If the “deceased” stirred, they could tug the string and ring for rescue.

Local historians believe this system may have inspired the phrase “saved by the bell.” Graveyards often stationed watchmen nearby, waiting to see if a bell would ring in the night. While the eerie sound must have sent shivers down spines, it was, for some, a last hope of survival.

Inventors soon took the concept further. Patents from the 1800s detail elaborate “safety coffins” equipped with air pipes, escape ladders, and signaling devices. Franz Vester’s 1868 “Improved Burial Case” included a bell and ladder for the unfortunate soul who awoke underground.

John Krichbaum’s 1882 design featured a T-shaped pipe that moved with hand motion, signaling life above ground. Others included clockwork fans for fresh air, or even battery-powered alarms to alert caretakers.

Though many of these designs were never widely adopted, they reflected the pervasive fear of premature burial in an era when medical certainty was elusive.

Accidentally Declared Dead Even In Modern Times

Even in modern times, stories of mistaken burials continue to surface. In 2011, Fagilyu Mukhametzyanov of Russia woke up during her own funeral. She opened her eyes in her casket, surrounded by grieving relatives. She screamed, was rushed to the hospital, and lived for another 12 minutes before dying of heart failure.

In 2014, Walter Williams of Mississippi was declared dead, his body zipped into a bag and delivered to a funeral home. To the embalmer’s shock, Williams’ legs began moving. He was breathing lightly and had, in fact, survived his first “death.” Two weeks later, however, he passed away for good.

These unsettling stories remind us that the fine line between life and death is sometimes blurrier than we’d like to admit.

The Lazarus Phenomenon: “Returns” from Death

If premature burial was the horror of the past, the Lazarus phenomenon, named after the Biblical figure who rose from the tomb, represents today’s medical equivalent.

Lazarus syndrome is the spontaneous return of circulation after failed attempts at resuscitation. In other words, a person’s heart restarts after doctors have already stopped CPR and pronounced them dead.

Documented only around 63 times in medical literature, it remains vanishingly rare. Most cases occur within ten minutes of resuscitation efforts ending.

Theories include:

Air trapping: Too much air pumped into the lungs during CPR builds pressure in the chest, preventing blood flow. When CPR stops, the pressure drops, and the heart spontaneously restarts.

Delayed medication delivery: Drugs given during resuscitation sometimes take effect only after circulation resumes.

Defibrillation delays: A shock to the heart may take longer than expected to trigger a rhythm.

Real-life examples are just as dramatic as tales of grave bells. In Detroit, a 20-year-old woman was declared dead after 30 minutes of CPR, only for funeral home staff to notice her breathing. In Britain, a 23-year-old man began breathing again after last rites. In Ohio, a man’s family watched in shock as his heart rhythm returned minutes after he had been declared dead.

Though survival rates are low, most patients die again soon after, just like it happened with 'Nana' from Friends.

Death: A Process, Not an Instant

What connects premature burial and Lazarus syndrome is a simple truth: death is not always an immediate event. Instead, it is a process in which organs gradually fail. Historically, without medical monitors, it was almost impossible to distinguish deep coma or catalepsy from actual death. Today, despite advanced machines, the Lazarus phenomenon shows that even modern medicine occasionally falters.

Medical guidelines now recommend waiting at least ten minutes after CPR stops before officially declaring death, ensuring that spontaneous circulation will not return. It is a safeguard rooted in the same caution that once drove inventors to attach bells to coffins.