Woman Succumbs After Mistakenly Being Ruled Dead
Mildred Clark, the 86-year-old woman who spent 90 minutes in a morgue cooler last week after mistakenly being declared dead, died Wednesday of undisclosed ailments, a hospital spokesman said.
Albany Medical Center Hospital spokesman Richard Puff said Clark’s family had requested that the cause of death be withheld.
Clark, who was found unconscious on the floor of her apartment Nov. 17, was declared dead by an Albany County coroner after he failed to find her pulse.
She was transported to Albany Medical Center, where hospital attendants placed her in a morgue cooler for an hour and a half.
When a hospital employee was given the task of releasing Clark’s body to a local funeral director, he discovered that her heart was still beating.
Clark was examined, found to be in critical condition and placed in intensive care, where she remained until her death Wednesday.
New York state’s health department said it was investigating the matter.
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