History is full of weird and wonderful tales. Some are true and others, well, they stretch the imagination.
Before modern medicine could explain things like 'the Lazarus effect,' spirituality and folklore came together to make some sense of the unbelievable.
While most people stay dead after they've died or should have died, these five people were living proof in their time that there's something else between life and death.
What it could be, well, we just don't know!
1. "Receive My Soul" : The Story Of Anne Greene
In 1650, Anne Greene was an unwed mother who was sentenced to death by hanging for murder. She was found guilty of killing her "bastard" infant and hiding the body in her boss' house.
As they fit a noose around her neck, her final words sent chills through the crowd.
"Sweet Jesus receive my soul," she uttered before the hangman kicked out the stool beneath her feet.
There, her body hung for half an hour before friends - who believed her innocence - agreed to quicken her death. They thumped on her chest and hung from her legs as they pulled her body up, then dropped it again with a sudden jerk.
The rope was cut and her body was laid in a coffin. Since her death took so long, her body was brought to the doctor for investigation.
As the doctor pressed the scalpel into her skin, Anne's corpse let out a groan. Some people say that the doctor immediately tried to revive her, while others swear he tried to kick her to death by stomping on her chest.
Either way, she managed to survive. The townspeople were likely pretty freaked out, because they declared her innocent of her crimes. She would go on to live a normal life and bear three more children.
Did that one give you chills? Read more impossible feats of 'resurrection' on the next page...
Whether you believe it or not, many people swear that these tales are true.
Some of them date as far back as centuries ago, while others are much more recent. Either way, each person has something in common - they all 'died' and lived to tell about it!
2. The Gold Ring : The Story Of Marjorie McCall
In 18th century Lurgen, Ireland, a doctor's wife fell ill with a fever and was pronounced dead shortly after.
Her name was Marjorie McCall and she was married to a wealthy doctor named John. On her wedding finger, she wore an expensive gold ring. At the time of her death, many people tried to remove the ring before her burial, but none succeeded.
After she was buried, news of the ring spread quickly and a pair of grave robbers decided to try their luck at prying it off of Marjorie's cold, dead finger.
Though try as they might, the two failed to win their prize. They decided the only solution would be to cut off her finger. The press of the sharp blade against her finger woke Marjorie who let out a shriek of pain.
The terrified grave robbers ran away; a groggy Marjorie was forced to make her way home alone. When she knocked on the front door to be let in, she was greeted by the look of horror on her husband's face.
He was so stunned to see his 'dead' wife, that he immediately dropped dead. Days later, he was buried in the grave that poor Marjorie had just escaped from.
3. His Final Breath: The Story of Ng Swee Hock
The story goes that Mr. Ng Swee Hock found himself a participant in a particularly brutal fight. The 65-year-old man was brought to the hospital, where doctors spent fought for his life by administering CPR.
Finally, after 45 minutes of struggling to revive him, they gave up and pronounced him dead at 11 a.m. But he wouldn't stay that way.
Two-and-a-half-hours later, his body gasped for breath and suddenly began to breathe on its own. Stunned doctors immediately brought him to the critical care unit of the Seberang Jaya Hospital in Malaysia. There he was put on a ventilator machine.
No one knows what became of the 'Malaysian Lazarus', but, as of 2009 there were only 38 known cases of spontaneous resuscitation in the world.
4. Assassin's Cede : King Zog of Albania
This guy sure knew how to make enemies. According to records, the former king of Albania had about 600 blood feuds against him and somehow managed to survive 55 assassination attempts. Legend says that he regularly smoked 200 cigarettes a day and spent most of his life gravely ill.
If we were to list all of the attempted kills, we would be here all day. Suffice it to say, this guy could not be put down.
In one instance, the indestructible King Zog of Albania was on his way into his Assembly Hall when he was shot twice at close range by a would-be assassin.
The wannabe killer ran away and hid in a bathroom, where he was promptly arrested after several politicians intervened on his behalf.
Zog reportedly walked into the hall and took a seat at his desk as if nothing had happened.
Was he wearing a bullet proof vest, or was he just really really lucky? Zog would go on to live out his days in exile from his home in France. He died on April 9 1961 at the age of 65.
5. Head Over Heels : The Story Of Mathew Wall
On a beautiful fall day in 1571 Mathew Wall, a local farmer, was on his way to a funeral.
The entire village of Braughing in Hertfordshire, England was there and he didn't want to miss is event. In fact, he had no real say in the matter. As villagers made their way to the event, Wall was being carried down the street by four pallbearers - in a coffin.
As they walked up to the church, one of the pallbearers slipped on some wet leaves and dropped the coffin!
Everyone in the crowd gasped and jumped back, afraid of what they might see inside. The lid didn't budge, but as the pallbearers leaned down to pick up the pine box, they heard a "knock. knock. knock..."
Terrified, they pried open the lid and up sat Mathew Wall, live and well! Not wanting to be buried, he hopped out of the coffin and the funeral was canceled. Amazingly, he would go on to live another twenty-four years after the incident.
Like what you just read? Check out some more unbelievable stories here and here!
