- Doctors declared a Mexican toddler dead, but relatives noticed her breathing at her funeral.
- The 3-year-old girl was rushed back to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead for the second time.
A toddler was declared dead by doctors, but relatives at her funeral later realized she was, in fact, alive, according to reports.
Camila Roxana Martinez Mendoza, 3, was taken to Salinas de Hidalgo Basic Community Hospital in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosí to be treated for dehydration on August 17, per Fox News.
She was released from the hospital but soon became unwell again, Fox News reported. Her parents took her back to the hospital, where her family claimed the doctors were negligent.
The family, in a lawsuit seen by the local newspaper El Universal San Luis Potosí, said the hospital staff was slow to give Mendoza an IV drip and oxygen.
Doctors later declared that the child was dead, according to Fox News, citing a report by El Universal San Luis Potosí.
"She still was hugging me. They took her away and told me, 'You have to let her rest in peace,'" her mother, Mary Jane Peralta told the newspaper, per Fox News.
At Mendoza's funeral on August 18, Fox News reported that Peralta noticed condensation on her daughter's glass casket. When she told mourners that her daughter was still breathing, she was told that grief was causing her to hallucinate, per Fox News.
Mendoza's grandmother then noticed that the three-year-old's eyes were moving, the media outlet said. Fox News reported that she had a heart rate of 97 beats per minute.
The toddler was rushed to a hospital in an ambulance, in which reports say her heart rate rapidly dropped, and she was later declared dead for a second time.
According to Fox News, the first cause of death was listed as dehydration, and the second was cerebral edema — brain swelling.
Peralta said she holds no "grudges" against the doctors and nurses, but the lawsuit is to ensure such an incident does not reoccur, per Fox News.
Insider contacted the Salinas de Hidalgo Basic Community Hospital and San Luis Potosí State Attorney General's Office for comments but did not immediately receive a response.