A patient who was declared dead by doctors on Easter Sunday was very much alive when mortuary attendants arrived in the hospital ward to remove his body.

Officials at the Mater hospital in Dublin have begun an investigation. The man’s family had already been told that he had died when staff realised that he was breathing.

The man had been treated in the Mater for a separate condition when he suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to the intensive care unit, where doctors and cardiac nurses worked to resuscitate him.

After half an hour, when he showed no response or vital signs, he was declared dead. A short while later his family was informed.

Orderlies were asked to prepare the man’s body, curtains were pulled around the bed in the ward, and staff from the mortuary were contacted. However, as they prepared to take the man to the mortuary, one member of staff spotted that he was alive.

The man’s family were coming to terms with their grief when they were told what had happened.

It is understood that the man, who has not been named, is unmarried, and has a mild mental disability. A spokesman for the Mater confirmed that the hospital’s management had started an investigation.

“The incident happened, a serious incident, and it is being investigated by the hospital,” he said.

“It’s an internal investigation led by people at the very senior end. There will be clinical people leading it and senior management are also across the whole issue.”

It is understood that the man has a history of heart problems and has been treated in the Mater on several occasions. Nurses on the hospital’s cardiac wards who have cared for him were said to be stunned.

The man, who was subsequently discharged from the hospital and sent home, is now said to be in good spirits.

It is understood that the investigation will examine what steps were taken to save the man, whether all necessary tests, such as checks for vital signs, were carried out and at what point he was declared dead. It will also look into when the man was found to be alive, and who made the discovery.

The Mater is one of the Irish Republic’s largest hospitals, and has provided care in the capital for 150 years.

A source close to the hospital told the Irish Times: “This man certainly was pronounced dead and, some time later, I understand he was very much alive.” Another source said: “Relatives were informed that this man had died, and when a guy from the morgue came up to collect his body, he said he wasn’t dead at all.”

He added: “Needless to say, the hospital is very perturbed at what happened.”

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