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Born 1918 (age 90) Died January 12, 2008 (aged 90) Similar Édouard Belin, Georges Beuchat, André Cassagnes | ||
Angelo Hays (born ca 1918) was a French celebrity and inventor. He is best known for having survived a premature burial for two days.
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Accident and Burial
Hays was involved in a motorcycle accident in which he was thrown from his vehicle headfirst into a brick wall. The doctors were unable to find a pulse and Hays was declared dead. His face had been so disfigured by the impact that his parents were not allowed to view his body. He was buried three days later in the village of St. Quentin de Chalais.
Two days after the funeral, when Hays was exhumed for the purposes of an insurance investigation, forensic examiners were surprised to find that the body was still warm. They found that Hays had been in a coma resulting from his head injury; his body’s diminished need for oxygen had allowed him to survive for two days underground.
Aftermath
Following several surgeries and rehabilitation, Hays made a complete recovery and went on to become a minor French celebrity. People traveled from afar to speak with him, and in the 1970s he went on tour with a security coffin he invented, which featuring thick upholstery, a food locker, chemical toilet, library, and radio transmitter.
