After doctors mistakenly assumed she was dead the first time, a 3-year-old girl awoke during her funeral before being formally declared dead.
Camila Roxana Martinez Mendoza’s family is accusing the Salinas de Hidalgo Basic Community Hospital of negligence after the child was reportedly declared dead too quickly.
When her mother, Mary Jane Mendoza, took her to see a child’s doctor in the family’s hometown of Villa de Ramos on Aug. 17, she was complaining of stomach problems, puking, and a fever.
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The doctor intensified the situation and advised that the child be transported to a hospital in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potos for dehydration treatment.
Doctors at Salinas de Hidalgo Basic Community Hospital wrapped a cold towel around her tiny body to cool her down and attached a pulse oximeter to one of her fingers to monitor her oxygen levels.
Camila was discharged from the hospital with a medication for paracetamol, which treats fever and pain but her health deteriorated throughout the day. Another doctor examined her and advised her mother to feed her fruits and water, as well as recommend a different medication.
Despite meds and health advice, the toddler continued to vomit. Her concerned parents took her to another physician, who recommended that she be hustled to the urgent care.
Camila was readmitted to the hospital between 9 and 10 p.m., and doctors worked to assist her.
The IV was removed from the little girl after about 10 minutes, and she was then removed to rest. “She was still hugging me when they took her away and told me, ‘You have to let her rest in peace,'” the bereaved mother recalled.
Mendoza was then separated from her sick daughter in a separate, locked room. She was able to escape but was unable to enter the room in which her daughter was being held. Camila was later deemed dead as a result of dehydration.
The following day, a memorial service viewing was held for family and friends to grieve the adored toddler when Mendoza noticed the coffin’s glass window fogged up.
Other mourners told the distraught mother she was imagining things and discouraged her from trying to open the coffin. Camila’s paternal grandmother, on the other hand, apparently rushed to take a closer look when she started to notice Camila’s eyes moving and realized she had a pulse.
Camila was rushed back to the Salinas hospital by ambulance, where doctors failed to revive her and declared her dead once more, this time from cerebral edema (brain swelling).
Camila’s parents obtained two death certificates, the first of which stated that she died of dehydration, and the second of which stated that she died of dehydration, cerebral edema, and metabolic failure.
The tragic case is being investigated by San Luis Potosi State Attorney General Jose Luis Ruiz, who has confirmed that an autopsy is being performed.
