Woman Declared Dead, Awakens as Body is being Donated to Science

Baltimore, Maryland --- Her name was Ruth Shillinglaw Johnson. She was 89-years-old. And the circumstances surrounding her death are both horrifying, and heartbreaking.

On October 1, 2010, a neighbor called police, because she hadn’t heard from Johnson in five days.

When the police arrived, they found the 89-year-old woman on her bathroom floor. The officers noted a strong “decomposition-like” smell.

The police never touched Johnson, but assumed she was dead. She remained on the floor for 3 more hours.

Because Johnson made provisions to donate her body to science, a state body removal service was contacted to claim her “remains“.

When the state employee arrived, he noticed Johnson was breathing and saw her arm move. He immediately called for an ambulance.

On October 16, 2010, Johnson died while in the care of a Hospice center.

The Anne Arundel County police department and Maryland state officials are investigating the officers who found Johnson. They are trying to determine how the officers mistakenly declared a live woman, dead.

Authorities say, in order to preserve evidence, the officers are trained not to touch presumably dead bodies. But I’d like to know how the officers can declare someone dead, without touching them. Furthermore, why wasn’t an ambulance called?