Woman wakes up alive in coffin while on way to be cremated

A woman shocked her loved ones when she woke up alive in a coffin while on her way to be cremated.

The family of 65-year-old grandmother, Chonthirot, thought she had stopped breathing at her home in Phitsanulok, northern Thailand on 23 November.

Her younger brother Mongkol, 57, said they made the tragic decision to take her body to a funeral home, thinking that she had passed away in her sleep at around 2am local time.

While on the four-hour journey to a cremation and funeral services centre in Bangkok, Chonthirot was said to have woken up inside the coffin she was put in.

Family members say she started to knock on the wood when the pick-up truck arrived at the temple.

Footage shows her moving around in the box as her family watched in disbelief.

Mongkol claims she was bedridden for two years and had even signed paperwork confirming her death.

"I was shocked, surprised, and happy that my sister was still alive. I nearly collapsed from surprise. It's a miracle that she woke up," he said.

Temple worker Thammanoon, 27, who was tasked with moving her into the hall for a short ceremony said he heard a faint cry for help coming from the inside.

A grandmother in Thailand was sent for cremation by her brother who thought she was dead (Viral Press)

The 27-year-old said: "I peeled back the cloth covering her and froze when I saw she was still moving.

"She was conscious, breathing weakly, and nodding her head, but she was unable to speak.

"I was stunned because I'd never experienced anything like this before."

Her brother said she was bedridden for two years and had even signed paperwork confirming her death (Viral Press)

The Wat Rat Prakhong Tham temple said it would cover Chonthirot's medical expenses after it became clear that she was still alive. An ambulance soon arrived at the scene to take her to Bang Yai Hospital.

Temple abbot Phra Kitti Wachirathada admitted that he has never witnessed such an incident in all of his years, but was pleased for the family for getting to spend more time with her.

The family said they were 'shocked, surprised, and happy' (Viral Press)

Similarly though in northeast Thailand, a 85-year-old grandmother also 'came back to life' after being dead for 40 minutes.

Pua Sriphueng allegedly didn't have a pulse when she was found at her home in Buriram province.

But as her family were setting up funeral proceedings, she was said to have sat up with her eyes wide open.

Incredibly, relatives claimed she started to behave like her normal self, and even took part in the religious rituals she would often avoid.