Woman thought to be dead spent two hours in a body bag before funeral workers realized she was alive

The family of a woman who was presumed dead and lay in a body bag for two hours is suing a nursing home, court documents show.

According to a lawsuit filed in Suffolk County Superior Court, Janet Balducci was at Water’s Edge Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Port Jefferson, Long Island, when a nurse pronounced her dead in February 2023.

Baldcucci was even placed in a body bag for embalming, but incredibly, she was not actually dead.

When the 82-year-old arrived at the Casimir Funeral Home in Miller Place, New York, something unexpected happened.

An employee opened the bag and found that Balducci “was still breathing and had a pulse,” family attorney Peter DeNoto told the New York Post.

The funeral home where Balducci was found alive. (Casimir Funeral Home)

The funeral home then called the emergency services, who took Balducci to the hospital.

“She survived for another day but eventually died,” DeNoto added to the outlet.

Robert and Joseph Balducci, the elderly woman’s sons, are now suing the nursing home and the funeral home for negligence and wrongful death.

While the sons are likely to seek large compensation from the lawsuit, they are even more interested in answers to the question of how their mother ended up in a body bag while she was still alive, DeNoto noted.

“Did the nurse follow the criteria for determining whether someone is dead, and did a doctor confirm the nurse’s findings?” the lawyer said in response to a question the family wants answered.

DeNoto went on to say that the case highlights a larger problem related to the neglect of the elderly in nursing facilities.

The nursing home is being sued by the family. (Waters Edge Rehab & Nursing Center in Port Jefferson)

The lawyer added: “There is really no excuse for putting a living human being in a body bag and sending him to a facility for embalming.”

“There was no one there to advocate for her as an older person.

“Unfortunately, she was definitely at the end of her life. That happens to all of us. But here it seems to have been too easy to say, she’s no longer alive, let’s send her to a facility.”

Balducci was placed at Water’s Edge in September 2022. According to the lawsuit, caregivers prematurely declared her dead.

In addition, it is alleged that they contributed to her death by failing to diagnose or properly treat her deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

DeNoto added to the New York Post: “It’s really a sad case. Ultimately, it’s about getting the message across that you have to take your job seriously and treat people with dignity and respect.”

UNILAD has contacted Water’s Edge for comment.