Woman Almost Dies Standing Over Grave Of Sister Who Died Learning Father Died [View All]

[matcom]

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A woman whose defibrillator activated one week to the hour after her father died, and recorded the event, may provide the first documented evidence of "anniversary reaction," doctors reported.

The defibrillator acted as a pacemaker, perhaps saving the 50-year-old woman's life. Its function of keeping a precise record of when it was activated made it possible to establish the precise time of the event, the doctors reported.

In a dramatic extra twist to the story, the patient was standing by the open grave of her sister-in-law, who had herself died when she heard the news of the father's death.

Dr. Michael Sweeney of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and Dr. Michael Quill of the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York reported on the occurrence in the journal HeartRhythm.

"We have all, almost to the point of being urban legend, heard stories of people literally dropping dead upon receipt of tragic news ... or a widower dying on the anniversary of his deceased spouse's (death)," Sweeney said in a telephone interview.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070627/sc_nm/death_anniversaries_dc;_ylt=AvmYvrcPKGaZ2pRLLl_vVN7MWM0F