Gilberto Araujo, Brazilian man mistaken as dead, shows up at own funeral
Family and friends got a shock at Gilberto Araujo’s funeral when the man showed up at his own wake.
A 41-year-old car washer from northeastern Brazil was mistakenly identified by family members as a murdered local man at the morgue.
Araujo says he showed up after being told of his “death” by a friend who had spotted him in the street.
“I said, ‘Guys, I’m alive, pinch me,'” Araujo told the O Globo news website (story is in Portuguese). He had not seen his family for about four months until then.
“It was a fright hHis mother, shopkeeper Maria Menezes, said some of those attending the wake fainted while others fled.
“It was a fright. … I’m very happy because what mother has a son that they say is dead then turns up alive?” she said.
On first learning of the confusion, Araujo tried to call an acquaintance at the wake to inform them he was alive, but his call was dismissed as a prank.
The corpse has now been returned, O Globo reported.
