Surreal 24 hours ends as baby who survived cold storage dies
By Jack Khoury
Faiza Majdoub, the mother of the premature baby who survived six hours in a hospital morgue's cold storage after being declared stillborn, waited anxiously for her daughter's body to be delivered for burial yesterday.
When the body came out on a stretcher, Faiza placed her hand on the shawls it was wrapped in, said goodbye and burst into tears.
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The baby was declared dead early yesterday morning, about 24 hours after she was mistakenly declared dead.
The Majdoubs named their baby Hiba, which means gift from God in Arabic, and buried her at a cemetery in the Western Galilee town of Kfar Yasif.
"We can't come to terms with what we've gone through," the girl's father, Ali Majdoub, said at the funeral. "It feels unreal. Within a day my wife and I show up at the hospital, our daughter is born and declared dead. Later we find out she is still alive and a few hours later we are told again that she is dead."
Faiza Majdoub, 26, arrived at Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya in her 23rd week of pregnancy early Monday morning. She was suffering from severe pains and hemorrhaging.
A preliminary examination found that the fetus had no pulse, and the woman was rushed to the operating room to have the baby removed.
A girl weighing 610 grams showed no signs of life, was pronounced dead by a senior doctor and taken to the morgue's cold storage. Hours later, when she was taken out to be prepared for burial, the girl was moving, Faiza Majdoub noticed.
Her daughter was rushed to intensive care and remained there until her death.
Slim chance of survival
"We knew her chances of survival were slim," Ali Majdoub said. "I showed up at the intensive care unit and saw that she was dead. My wife will suffer from this and we'll have to deal with it. I'm sure she'll need psychological help."
"No doubt, this issue requires an inquiry," added Dr. Massad Barhoum, the director of the Nahariya hospital.
Meanwhile, hospital officials said they had lowered the age at which fetuses will be treated as being potentially viable from 24 to 22 weeks. They also said the doctor who declared the fetus dead is on voluntary vacation until the issue is clarified.
"No measures were taken against the doctor," a hospital spokesperson said. "He is a senior and skilled doctor."
, i joking... maybe?
Kahran RamsusSuper Moderator
OnTheAirWakandan Ambassador
She went down swingin. 
