Thursday, March 28, 2024

Family of Detroit Woman Mistakenly Declared Dead Suing City for $50 Million

*The family of the Detroit woman with cerebral palsy who was mistakenly declared dead at a funeral home in August has filed a lawsuit against the first responders on the scene

According to PEOPLE, Beauchamp’s family has sued the Southfield EMS Paramedics for $50 million for declaring her dead when she was “very much alive,” family attorney Geoffrey Fieger said in a statement.

“All the telemetry evidence shows that Timesha was alive when EMS declared her dead,” he said in a statement. “As a result of being declared dead, she was left without oxygen for 4 hours, suffering severe hypoxic brain damage.”

The four paramedics involved have had their licenses suspended, Fieger said.

“All of this could have been avoided, had more care been taken,” he added.

READ MORE: Woman Found Alive at Funeral Home Dies of ‘Massive Brain Damage’

We previously reported, Beauchamp, 20, died at Detroit’s Children’s Hospital on Sunday of massive brain damage. Her death comes two months after she was discovered alive at a Detroit funeral home.

“This is the second time our beloved Timesha has been pronounced dead, but this time she isn’t coming back,” the family said in a statement

Beauchamp had a heart attack at her home in August and was found unresponsive when paramedics with Southfield Fire Department arrived. They performed CPR and failed to revive her after performing life saving procedures for 30 minutes, according to CBS.  She was declared dead after an ER physician reviewed her medical data. Her body was released directly to the family and Beauchamp was transported to James H Cole Home for Funerals in Detroit. 

Over an hour later, staffers saw she was alive and called paramedics, who rushed her to the hospital.  

“They would have begun draining her blood to be very, very frank about it,” the family’s lawyer Geoffrey Fieger told WXYZ-TV. “The funeral home unzipping the body bag – literally – that’s what happened to Timesha, and seeing her alive with her eyes open.” 

“After receiving clearance from the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s office she was transported to our funeral home,” the funeral home said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Upon her arrival at the funeral home, our staff confirmed she was breathing and called EMS.”

The fire department claims they followed “protocols and procedures” when handling Beauchamp.  

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