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Tradition saves woman, 95, from being buried alive
By Pan Zheng |
February 28, 2012, Tuesday
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Online Edition
Online Edition
A 95-year-old woman in China's remote Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was found cooking in her kitchen six days after she was mistaken for dead and put into a coffin, a newspaper reported today.
Li Xiufen, 95, lives alone in a village in Beiliu City and is taken care of by her good neighbor, Chen Qingwang, in his 60s. On the morning of February 17, Chen went to Li's home with breakfast and found the old woman was motionless on her bed.
Chen found Li had no breath though her body was still warm. He figured that it was the thick quilt that preserved her warmth but the woman was actually dead.
Chen and his son then held a funeral for the woman and placed her in a coffin on February 19. According to local customs, the burial should be held on February 24.
However, on the morning of February 23, Chen and his son found the coffin in the woman's room was open and the body had disappeared. They almost freaked out when they saw Li was sitting in her kitchen and cooking gruel.
"Why did you put me in a coffin?" she said. "I felt hungry when I woke up so I am cooking something to eat."
Since Chen had already burned Li's personal items according to the funeral tradition, Chen went to the local government for help and soon the old lady received clothes, beddings and other daily articles from the government and neighbors.
A doctor checked Li's health and said her "death" was actually a kind of coma as she had a fall on February 1 and suffered slight brain injury.
"Thanks to the local tradition, they didn't bury her immediately," said the doctor. "It gave her a chance to live again."
Li Xiufen, 95, lives alone in a village in Beiliu City and is taken care of by her good neighbor, Chen Qingwang, in his 60s. On the morning of February 17, Chen went to Li's home with breakfast and found the old woman was motionless on her bed.
Chen found Li had no breath though her body was still warm. He figured that it was the thick quilt that preserved her warmth but the woman was actually dead.
Chen and his son then held a funeral for the woman and placed her in a coffin on February 19. According to local customs, the burial should be held on February 24.
However, on the morning of February 23, Chen and his son found the coffin in the woman's room was open and the body had disappeared. They almost freaked out when they saw Li was sitting in her kitchen and cooking gruel.
"Why did you put me in a coffin?" she said. "I felt hungry when I woke up so I am cooking something to eat."
Since Chen had already burned Li's personal items according to the funeral tradition, Chen went to the local government for help and soon the old lady received clothes, beddings and other daily articles from the government and neighbors.
A doctor checked Li's health and said her "death" was actually a kind of coma as she had a fall on February 1 and suffered slight brain injury.
"Thanks to the local tradition, they didn't bury her immediately," said the doctor. "It gave her a chance to live again."
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