#‘Dead’ woman was about to be embalmed when found alive in Michigan funeral home

The woman who was believed to be dead — but was actually alive — at a Michigan funeral home was about to be embalmed when workers made the shocking discovery, according to her family’s attorney.

More details have emerged about the harrowing ordeal that’s left Timesha Beauchamp fighting for her life on a ventilator.

The 20-year-old was declared dead by paramedics Sunday morning and taken to the James H. Cole funeral home in Detroit — where workers found that she was alive.

“They were about to embalm her which is most frightening had she not had her eyes open,” lawyer Geoffrey Fieger told WXYZ. “They would have begun draining her blood to be very, very frank about it.”

There were 90 minutes between when Beauchamp arrived at the funeral home and was transferred to the hospital — which Fieger said could be critical to her recovery.

“What did this delay do in terms of Timesha’s health for the rest of her life?” he asked.

She is now in critical condition on a ventilator at Sinai-Grace Hospital.

“It’s one of people’s worst nightmares to imagine having an ambulance called and instead, sending you off to a funeral home in a body bag,” the attorney added. “The funeral home unzipping the body bag, literally, that’s what happened to Timesha, and seeing her alive with her eyes open.”

It’s not clear what led up to the funeral home fiasco. Beauchamp was found unresponsive in her apartment, with Southfield Fire Department paramedics trying to revive her for 30 minutes before declaring her dead.

Fieger said Beauchamp’s godmother, a registered nurse, was on scene and told EMS that she felt a pulse.

“Given medical readings and the condition of the patient, it was determined at that time that she did not have signs of life,” said Southfield Fire Chief Johnny Menifee.

Menifee said firefighters called in the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office, and “the patient was again determined to have expired and the body was released directly to the family to make arrangements with a funeral of their choosing.”