Sometimes a funeral is just a mistake all around. You can't give someone an elaborate sendoff id they're not dead! In these stories of people who were alive at their funerals, they mainly turn out to be either 1. mistaken identity, 2. mistaken declaration of death, or 3. a prank. Each reason makes a great story.
6. THE REAWAKENING THAT INSPIRED A HOLIDAY
The village of Braughing in Hertfordshire, England, celebrates "Old Man’s Day" on October 2 each year. The tradition dates back to 1571, and the funeral of a local farmer by the name of Matthew Wall. On the way to his funeral, though, one of his pallbearers dropped his coffin.
It’s a good thing he did, because the jolt promptly woke up Wall up. The farmer would live for over two decades more, finally passing away in 1595. His coming back to life continues to be cause for celebration in Braughing.
8. THE MAN WHO TURNED UP DRUNK AT HIS OWN FUNERAL
When Ecuadorian man Edison Vicuna went missing for three days, his friends and family assumed the worst. Especially when the body turned up of a man whose face had been severely disfigured following a car accident. A post-mortem was performed, and the corpse was confirmed to be Vicuna’s.
Only it wasn’t. In fact, come his funeral, Vicuna turned up, drunk, causing mourners to scream in horror. The funeral, as you might expect, was halted, and the body was returned to the morgue, where it was properly identified as belonging to someone entirely different.
Read all the other true tales of people who turned up alive at their own funerals at mental_floss.
(Image credit: Heavensowns)