Ligia Cabus Posted March 8, 2013 #1 Share Posted March 8, 2013 (edited) It happened in 1871 during a cholera epidemic in India. Mary Best was 17 when contracted the disease. She was alone in the world in the care of a foster family. ... Mary suffered hours of agony, malaise, stomach pains. His pulse went getting weaker until the doctor declared her dead. Within hours of death be certificate, she was buried... Ten years later, the coffin was opened for the grave receive the body of a deceased adoptive uncle of Mary and at that moment, the undertaker agent and his assistant were faced with the horrible vision. The coffin lid of Mary had been displaced. The half of the skeleton of the young woman was in the coffin and the other half out from the coffin. Her skull had a fracture. The right hand fingers were bent, as if she had tried to grab something and their clothes were torn. In a book published in 1905 (Premature Burial: How It May Be Prevented by Walter Hadwen, William Tebb and Edward Perry Vollum, edited by Jonathan Sale, Hesperus) and now reissued, two doctors relate gruesome cases of premature burials recorded in newspapers around the world. In many cases the victims could have escaped this terrible fate, but were not ... MORE IN... http://www.dailymail...ure-burial.html Edited March 8, 2013 by Ligia Cabus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taun Posted March 8, 2013 #2 Share Posted March 8, 2013 That would be an absolutely horrible way to die... To wake up in total darkness, with limited space to move in and realise that you are buried and will soon run out of air... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickian Posted March 8, 2013 #3 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Yeah, I think I'll pass on reading any more of those events. They just depress me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutankhaten-pasheri Posted March 8, 2013 #4 Share Posted March 8, 2013 (edited) I read there was a hysteria about this back in 19th century. Some people had a bell placed above their grave with a string down to the coffin, so if you woke up in your coffin you could ring bell for help. Though of course you would have suffocated shortly after coffin was covered in earth, if not before.. edit to add, that what would your reaction be, if you walked past a very old grave which still had bell, and it rung Edited March 8, 2013 by Atentutankh-pasheri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ealdwita Posted March 8, 2013 #5 Share Posted March 8, 2013 (edited) I read there was a hysteria about this back in 19th century. Some people had a bell placed above their grave with a string down to the coffin, so if you woke up in your coffin you could ring bell for help. Thus giving rise to the phrases...."Dead ringer"....and....."Saved by the bell" (No...it's true! Really!) Historical records indicate that during the 17th century when plague victims often collapsed seemingly dead, there were 149 actual cases of people being buried alive. Some historians believe Thomas A Kempis, a German Augustinian monk who wrote The Imitation of Christ in the 1400’s was denied canonization because splinters were found embedded under his nails. Canonization authorities determined that anyone aspiring to be a saint would not fight death if he found himself buried alive. Edited March 8, 2013 by ealdwita 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen in the North Posted March 8, 2013 #6 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Sorry guys, but if I walked past a grave with a bell in it and it rang, I'd run for the hills. Best hope someone else hears it and gets you dug up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightly Posted March 8, 2013 #7 Share Posted March 8, 2013 (edited) .. i think that's how the idea of 'wakes' started off. Just to make sure aunt Madge didn't WAKE up .. and was really gone fer good .. here's to her! Edited March 8, 2013 by lightly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ealdwita Posted March 8, 2013 #8 Share Posted March 8, 2013 .. i think that's how the idea of 'wakes' started off. Just to make sure aunt Madge didn't WAKE up .. and was really gone fer good .. here's to her! From the Anglo-Saxon wæcce or wacu - to watch. (Yes I know - there's always one!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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