In a remarkable tale of medical marvels and mystery, an elderly man mistakenly declared deceased and on the verge of being embalmed suddenly regained consciousness whilst inside a body bag at a a funeral home.

Farmer Walter Williams captured worldwide attention when he awoke as staff at Porter and Sons Funeral Home in Mississippi, USA, were set to embalm him. In a shocking twist, the 78-year-old turned out to be very much alive.

On February 27, 2014, the grandfather of 15 had been taken to hospice care with congestive heart failure. Medical professionals declared him dead after the coroner and nurses examined his pulse around 9pm, detecting no heartbeat. He was then transferred to Porter and Sons Funeral Home in a body bag.

As embalmers prepared to commence the preservation process - the technique employed to postpone decomposition for public viewing at funerals or wakes - Walter began to stir.

Paramedics rushed Walter to hospital, where physicians speculated that a mixture of medications or a malfunctioning pacemaker might have caused his vital signs to disappear, reports the Mirror.

Holmes County Coroner Dexter Howard told CNN at the time: "We got him into the embalming room, and we noticed his legs beginning to move, like kicking. He also began to do a little breathing.

"Every case I do is a learning experience," Dexter added. When asked what lesson he took from the Walter Williams case, he responded: "That miracles can happen."

Walter's nephew Eddie Hester said: "I stood there and watched them put him in a body bag and zip it up. That was at 10:30pm, and at 2:30am, my cousin called me and said 'Not yet' and I said 'what do you mean not yet'.

"He [my cousin] said, 'Daddy still here'," the Mirror reported

Dexter informed the BBC that Walter's family were "just in a state of shock" upon learning of his recovery and were celebrating. The coroner admitted he had never witnessed anything like the Walter Williams case in his entire career spanning over two decades. "It's an unusual case. I hope he keeps on keeping on," said Dexter.

Walter's daughter Martha Lewis said: "Seemed like he had more life in him again. And then we had just stopped talking, he told us 'what did you all stop talking for?' Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus. It was not my daddy's time. I don't know how much longer he's going to grace us and bless us with his presence, but hallelujah, we thank him right now."

Sadly, just 15 days after his story garnered global attention, Walter, affectionately known as Snowball, passed away at his home in Lexington, Mississippi at 4.15am on the morning of March 14, 2014. The pensioner died of natural causes.

Speaking to CNN, Eddie said: "I think he's gone this time."

Describing it as a "two week miracle", Walter's nephew added: "It was a two week miracle for me and I enjoyed every minute of it and my family did too."