'Last rites' Coronavirus patient believed to be dead wakes up moments before she was to be cremated

Shakuntala Gaikwad, 78, from Baramati in Mudhale, India, tested positive for Covid at the beginning of May and isolated at her home while recovering from the virus.

At some point, she started to develop severe symptoms and her family called an ambulance to take her to the hospital.

While they struggled to find her a bed in the crowded clinic, she fell unconscious in the ambulance.

Ambulance staff reportedly declared the woman dead and her devastated family spread the tragic news of her passing.

The patient who was declared dead by paramedics woke up just moments before she was set to be cremated.

Ms Gaikwad was then taken back to her village where the family began preparing for her cremation and last rites.

However, moments before she was set to be put into the fire, she opened her eyes and began to cry.

She was immediately moved to the Silver Jubilee Hospital in Baramati for further medical treatment, VN Express reports.

Indian remains in the grips of a deadly wave of coronavirus. There have been nonstop mass cremations going on in India amid record-breaking COVID-19 surge.