\n<\/p>\n
A Detroit suburb has agreed to a $3.25 million settlement with the family of a young woman who had been declared dead at home but then gasped for air and opened her eyes when her body bag was unzipped<\/a> at a funeral home.<\/p>\n Southfield paramedics were accused of gross negligence in how they responded to Timesha Beauchamp after a 911 call in 2020. The 20-year-old, who had cerebral palsy, was eventually rushed to a hospital and died two months later.<\/p>\n \u201cWe recognize that no resolution can undo the profound tragedy that occurred on August 23, 2020, or ease the pain experienced by Ms. Beauchamp\u2019s family,” Southfield said in a statement. \u201cThis case involved extraordinarily difficult circumstances that arose in the complex world of a global pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n Beauchamp was struggling to breathe when her family called 911. A medical crew tried to resuscitate her and also consulted a doctor, who declared her dead over the phone without going to the home.<\/p>\n Later that day, a funeral home opened the body bag and found Beauchamp gasping for air. She was swiftly taken to a hospital but never recovered.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was put in a situation she never should have been in,” Steven Hurbis, an attorney for Beauchamp\u2019s family, said Tuesday.<\/p>\n Medical professionals, he added, said Beauchamp would have survived if she had been taken immediately to a hospital from her home.<\/p>\n Southfield fought the lawsuit and persuaded a judge to dismiss it based on governmental immunity. The Michigan Court of Appeals, however, overturned that decision<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n The Southfield fire chief had said Beauchamp’s situation might have been a case of \u201cLazarus syndrome,\u201d a reference to people who come back to life without assistance after attempts to resuscitate have failed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n