CLAIM: Kenyan Man Wakes Up At Mortuary After Being Declared Dead

A verified X blog @AfricanHub_ posted a claim that a Kenyan man woke up in the mortuary after being wrongly declared dead. The post which surfaced online on September 10, 2025, is captioned, 

“Kenyan Man Wakes Up in Mortuary After Being Wrongly Declared Dead, Later Succumbs Peter Kiplangat Kigen, 32, collapsed at his home in Kericho County and was taken to Hospital, where medical staff mistakenly pronounced him dead. His body was taken to the mortuary, where during the embalming process an attendant made an incision into his right leg to inject formalin only for Kigen to shockingly regain consciousness, screaming in pain. Staff, terrified, rushed him back to the casualty ward. Though he initially appeared to recover, Kigen tragically died later in an ambulance en route to Kericho County Referral Hospital for further treatment.”

This post had over 26,000 views, with about 63 replies, reposts, quotes, likes and bookmarks, as of when this report was published.

VERIFICATION

N-VA checks revealed that the incident happened in November 2020. According to news reports, the 32-year-old Kenyan man, Peter Kigen collapsed at home and was taken to Kapkatet Hospital in Kericho County. After being declared dead by a nurse, his family moved him to the mortuary. While preparing for embalming, a mortuary attendant made an incision on his right leg, and he suddenly woke up in excruciating pain, prompting the staff to flee, out of shock.

After his sudden reawakening, he received emergency first aid and was moved back to the hospital ward but unfortunately died later while being transferred to a higher-level referral hospital.

Kigen’s uncle, Denis Langat, stated that the hospital staff only casually checked him before pronouncing him dead. Kigen’s family demanded justice and accused the hospital of negligence. In response to this accusation, the hospital's medical superintendent, Gilbert Cheruiyot, stated that the patient was already in critical condition when he was brought to the hospital. He also explained that, “His relatives presumed he was dead and did not even wait for certification of death. They moved him to the mortuary, on their own.”

CONCLUSION

The claim that a Kenyan man recently woke up in the mortuary after being declared dead is TRUE but it is not a recent event. The incident happened in November 2020.