A two-month-old baby who was pronounced dead before being discovered alive inside a body bag has finally returned home after spending weeks receiving hospital treatment.
Noah Gabriel da Cruz Santos was discharged on Wednesday, August 12, nearly a month after his extraordinary ordeal began in Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil.
His return home was marked by an emotional celebration, with his family decorating the house with balloons and a welcome banner and preparing cake and snacks.
Family thanks supporters
Noah's father, Lenildo Santos, also thanked those who had supported the family throughout the ordeal with messages and prayers.
"God was faithful in every detail and continues to watch over our little miracle. Thank you to everyone who prayed, sent messages, and followed our story. This victory belongs to you, too!" he wrote on social media, reports the Mirror.
Despite being back home, Noah remains under close care as he continues to recover. He is being fed through a small tube and his family has said he cannot yet have visitors or go to crowded places following recent episodes.
Extraordinary chain of events
The extraordinary chain of events began on July 15, when Noah was just one month old and suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest while being treated in intensive care at Santa Casa de Rio Claro.
Medical staff attempted to resuscitate him for around 45 minutes before he was pronounced dead.
His body was then prepared to be collected by a funeral worker, but what happened next left those involved stunned.
Regina Célia Paschoal arrived at the hospital to collect Noah and noticed movement coming from inside the sealed body bag.
She opened it and found the baby was alive.
"I opened it, and the baby started moving even more; he was making a noise, as if trying to breathe," Regina recalled.
The discovery was particularly shocking for Regina, who had spent 17 years working in the funeral industry without experiencing anything comparable.
"It was a shock, an overwhelming feeling, to realise that we had gone to collect someone who was dead, only to find him alive," she said.
Hospital response and recovery
Her colleague Matheus Batagello was with her and immediately sought assistance from hospital staff.
"It was a desperate moment, but also a relief," he said.
Matheus initially considered whether the baby's movements could have been a spasm, but alerted nurses after hearing him make sounds.
"Look, I need you to go check, because he's moving and making a sort of hiccuping sound, like he's choking. So I need you to go over there and make sure," he told them.
Noah was rushed back into intensive care and later transferred to a specialist hospital in Bauru on July 17.
He was treated at a University of São Paulo-affiliated facility specialising in craniofacial conditions and was due to undergo surgery for a cleft palate.
By July 31, Noah had been taken off his ventilator and was able to breathe without mechanical assistance.
The hospital where he had initially been treated has rejected any suggestion that his death was incorrectly confirmed.
Santa Casa de Rio Claro said its medical team had followed the required technical and legal procedures.
"The Brazilian protocol for confirming death is recognised for its high standards of rigour and safety," the hospital said.
Nelson Horigoshi, the hospital's medical manager, told Fantástico that one possible explanation could be Lazarus syndrome, an extremely rare phenomenon in which circulation returns after resuscitation efforts have stopped.
However, he stressed that Noah's case was highly unusual because of the length of time involved.
"It usually takes minutes. Approximately 70% of those who return do so within five minutes. Just consider how exceptional this child's case is. We are talking about hours," Horigoshi said.
Now, after weeks of intensive treatment, Noah has finally been reunited with his family.
His relatives said his recovery will continue to be monitored "in the comfort of home".
