Man Declared Dead Starts Snoring on Autopsy Table

Dead men don't snore.

Three different doctors had declared a 29-year-old prison inmate dead. All three were wrong.

Gonzalo Montoya Jimenez was found unresponsive on the floor of his cell in northern Spain. Guards assumed he was dead and he was taken to the medical examiner's for an autopsy, according to local reports. 

After the trio of physicians pronounced him dead, Jimenez's body was marked for an autopsy. He was on the table, inside a body bag, for about four hours when the coroner's staff was startled by the sounds of his snores. 

He was "ready to be opened up," his family said.

The man is now under observation in intensive care at the Central University Hospital of Asturias, Oviedo.

A day after waking up, Jimenez was asking about his wife, which doctors took as a good sign Jimenez did not suffer brain damage.

The incident was thought to be a case of catalepsy, a condition that results in rigidity, unresponsiveness to pain and the significant slowing down of functions including breathing.

Jimenez's family said he suffers from epilepsy and may not have been taking his medication correctly while behind bars.

Prison officials are investigating the incident.

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