A newborn baby was found alive nearly two hours after she was pronounced dead at a hospital in Canada.
According to CTV News, the newborn baby girl was declared dead after an unnamed 20-year-old woman gave birth to her on a sidewalk in Toronto at 6 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 17. At the time, Toronto was under an extreme cold weather alert, with temperatures below 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
CBC News reports that paramedics rushed the newborn to a nearby hospital where she was "worked on" in the trauma unit, but that she showed no vital signs. The baby was declared dead and placed under a sheet.
Two police officers remained with the body while waiting for the coroner. About 90 minutes after the call was made, however, the officers saw the sheet begin to move.
"In this particular situation, it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time," Toronto police Const. Wendy Drummond told CBC. "The officers were on a very sad detail … it was when they noticed the sheet moving that they were able to investigate a little bit further and detect a pulse."
Police notified medical staff, and the baby was revived, CTV notes. Although both the mother and baby were physically well on Sunday evening, police would not comment on the woman's "emotional condition."
An emergency room physician uninvolved with the incident called it one of the "miracle baby scenarios," according to Fox New Orleans station WVUE.
Doctors told The Canadian Press that the newborn was likely declared dead because of hypothermia, the signs of which can sometimes mimic death.
"That would be the most likely reason," Dr. Jamie Hutchison, an intensive care physician not involved in the newborn's care, told the publication on Tuesday. "And that's because the body requires a certain temperature for metabolism to occur. So with each degree drop in temperature, the metabolism of every organ slows ... They're not dead, but they appear that way."