Woman Realizes Son Is Still Alive During Funeral
A true miracle.
Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock An Airbnb host shared a bizarre story from one of her guests who mistakenly thought her son passed away.
Retelling the story to her TikTok followers, the host explained that she was checking in a guest who was in town for a celebration of life ceremony. Assuming the woman was referring to a funeral, she expressed her sympathies but soon learned the guest was quite literally celebrating a life.
The woman shared the shocking way she found out her son was still alive during his funeral.
Telling the woman's story, the guest said that her son went for a night out in a new town when he turned 21. While in a bar, he noticed that he lost his phone and confronted the person behind him about it. The person he accused of stealing his phone then punched him and knocked him against the bar top, leaving him unconscious.
Her son went to the hospital while the person who stole his phone ran away. The thief then went to another bar where he got into another confrontation, leading to him running from police. During the chase, he pulled out a gun and the officers shot him, causing him to hit his face on the curb before dying.
The mother tried to call her son in a panic, receiving no response.
“She’s calling her son, not picking up because he’s laying in a hospital unconscious,” the TikToker said. “Calling, calling, calling, not picking up. Guess who picks up finally? The coroner’s office.”
The coroner’s office asked her to identify the body, which she claimed was her son.
Both her son and his attacker shared the same hair color, skin color and general build. Plus, facial injuries made it difficult to tell them apart.
In a follow-up video, the Airbnb host shared further details about how such a mix-up happened.
She added that the son had his ID and credit cards in his wallet. The other man had no identification on him, which caused further confusion. The son’s friends also couldn’t spell his last name, which she described as “ethnic.” He also lacked any social media accounts, so people could not contact his friends or family. Additionally, he couldn’t call his mom because he couldn’t remember her phone number.
Three days later, the family held a funeral for the son.
At the funeral, the mother noticed a tattoo on “her son’s” arm that she couldn’t see at the coroner’s office — it was then that she realized what happened.
The woman had mistakenly identified her son's attacker as her son.
“So she’s at the funeral, freaking out,” the TikToker said. “‘Not my son, not my son.’ Everyone’s like, “Oh my god, this mom’s freaking out because she is like oh my god my baby’s dead.’ No, no, no, she’s freaking out because she now just realizes that that’s not her son.”
The mother paid for the funeral and cremation even after she realized it wasn’t her son, a small price to pay knowing her son was still alive.
“I almost cried,” the TikToker said. “She said she would have paid for 100 funerals to have her son back.”
Jonathan Alfano is a writer who focuses on news and entertainment topics.