MORTICIAN GETS SHOCK OF LIFE UPON HEARING DEAD `SPEAK'

A Springfield, Ohio, mortician was all ready to embalm the 87-year-old woman when he had to cancel - the woman was not dead. Dennis Porter got the shock of his life Saturday when he moved the body of Carrie Stringfellow from a cot to the embalming table at his funeral home. "She made a sound as I was taking her off the death table," Porter said. "I took her pulse and her eyes fluttered just a little." After he pulled himself together, Porter checked the woman's vital signs and could detect a faint pulse in her neck and wrist. Porter called paramedics, who took Stringfellow to Mercy Medical Center. "When she arrived at our doors by squad, she was in respiratory distress and was lethargic. However, her vital signs were normal," said Vicky Forrest, a hospital spokeswoman. Stringfellow was in fair and stable condition Tuesday and was expected to be discharged by the end of the week. Forrest said Stringfellow had regained consciousness and told doctors she had no memory of being at the funeral home Saturday evening. Her family requested that she not be interviewed.