Saved by the Bell... But Not Like a Boxer.

Safety coffin with bell

A different "vault style" safety coffin

The fear of being buried alive is not all that uncommon. It would be a death, I imagine, similar to a slow suffocation... if one who was indeed alive were to even wake at all. I could not imagine walking through a cemetery only to hear muffled screaming coming from the ground below me. Many historical reports of incidents exactly like that have been recorded. One such story is that of the very ill Lawrence Cawthorn; a butcher at Newgate Market heard screaming from his grave in London, 1661(Bondenson, 2010). Another published case is that of Madam Blunden from Basingstoke, 1674, who was thought to have overdosed on poppy water but, after burial, young shcoolboys heard noise coming from the ground(Bondenson, 2010). Her body was lifted and then examined on two occasions, both times being covered in scratches or bruises that were not there upon being pronounced dead(Bondenson, 2010).

As it may be imagined... people used to rely on really obvious signs to determine "alive or not" in the past. The chest would be listened to for a heartbeat or pulse may have been taken. People would also examine the belly of the tentatively deceased to watch for the normal rise and fall of breathing. Due to this inaccuracy, mistakes were inevitable. Safety mechanisms for coffins began to be available. I have often heard of a person being given a bell or being tied to an exterior bell so that they may signal to the outside word that they were in need of aid and not actually dead. By the 1700's, it was common to rely solely on decomposition as a true determinant of death(Bondenson, 2010). German "Leinchenhauser"(hospitals for the dead) facilities meant to temporarily house bodies until the putrefaction process began were created and used until the 1950's(Bondenson, 2010). By around the 1790's, the security coffin became popular and one of which was equipped with a tube that a person may use to smell for signs of decomposition(Bondenson, 2010). The later 1800's saw many advances to these coffins such as bells being replaced with firecrackers, sirens, or rockets that could be activated from inside the coffin(Bondenson, 2010)!

Obviously we now know a lot more about human anatomy, physiology, and pathology. These people who had been buried alive may have suffered from disorders such as cataplexy or just have had a very low and slow heart beat due to drugs or disorders. A person locked in an airtight coffin would not survive more than 60 minutes with the lack of oxygen(Bondenson, 2010). Bodies also move around while they decompose from things such as gasses and insect activity. This movement set off many false positive alarms and lead to many unnecessary exhumations(Bondenson, 2010). The most interesting safety coffin I have found online belonged to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick who died in 1792(Bateman, 2011). It contained a window, a fresh air tube to provide oxygen, and a coffin lid that had been locked instead of nailed so that he may open it from within using his key(Bateman, 2011).

Being mistaken for dead still occurs to this day! Even after all these modern advances in medicine, it is a rare and odd possibility. There are reports of a Venezuelan man pronounced dead after a motor vehicle accident on September 17, 2007, named Carlos Camejo(Bateman, 2011). He was 33 years old at the time and woke up in the morgue, alive and in pain just as doctors were about to being his autopsy examination(Bateman, 2011). In February of 2010, a Polish beekeeper named Josef Guzy was pronounced certifiably dead after a heart attack(age 76) until the undertaker noticed he had a pulse(Bondenson, 2010). What lucky individuals to have woken up prior to being buried or cut open alive. How terrifying!! One would think a doctor, in this day and age, could guarantee that a dead body is totally and fully dead.

-Maia B

Bibliography

Bateman, C. (2011). Hardy rural elder survives mystery morgue ordeal. South African Medical Journal, 10(9). Retrieved March 11, 2013, from http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?pid=S0256-95742011000900011&script=sci_arttext&tlng=es

Bondeson, J. (2010, March 12). Lifting the lid on the macabre history of those buried alive. Retrieved March 11, 2013, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1257330/Lifting-lid-macabre-history-buried-alive.html

Please note that APA does not permit for the citation of photographs;  links are provided below:

1)http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2010/10/340x_safetycoffin4_01.jpg

2)http://www.obit-mag.com/media/image/escape%20vault.jpg