By The Survivors Club Staff
August 10, 2009

A tiny premature baby declared dead by doctors was discovered to be alive at his own funeral wake when he began to cry in his own makeshift coffin.

The tot, born 16 weeks early, was placed in a cardboard box and handed over to his devastated parents after hospital staff tried to revive him.  Jose Alvarenga, his father, was saying goodbye to the infant when he suddenly began to cry.

The little boy is now back in hospital in Paraguay's capital and reported to be in a stable condition. 

The head of pediatrics at the hospital said the baby was pronounced dead after doctors failed to spot any vital signs.  Dr Ernesto Weber said: "This is a very unusual case."  He said an investigation would be carried out.

A doctor from the hospital's maternity unit said staff had tried to revive the baby, who was born weighing just 17.6 ounces for an hour before declaring him dead.

Two years ago, according to The Sun of London, a baby boy from Leeds 'came back to life' 30 minutes after doctors pronounced him dead.  Medical staff at Leeds General Infirmary had tried in vain to resuscitate two-week-old Woody Lander after the little boy suffered a heart attack.

He was handed over to parents Jon and Karen Lander so they could say goodbye, but half an hour later the couple heard the boy cough.