US farmer dies again… this time for real

WASHINGTON–A Mississippi farmer who made global headlines two weeks ago when he woke up in a body bag at a funeral home died on Thursday aged 78, local media said.

Walter “Snowball” Williams passed away in the early hours, the Clarion-Ledger newspaper in the state capital Jackson reported.

“Well, they came and got him again around 4:15 am,” said Williams’ nephew Eddie Hester, quoted by Jackson television station WAPT. “I think he’s gone this time.”

Williams, who entered a hospice in February because of congestive heart failure, was first pronounced dead on February 27 after nurses and a coroner detected no pulse.

He was transferred to a funeral home, only to start rustling inside a body bag — prompting duly astonished staff to summon an ambulance to take him back to his hospice bed.

Williams, a father of 11 with six great-grandchildren, said he had merely fallen into a deep sleep, but family members felt God had given him extra time for a reason.

“You’d be surprised how many people this has touched in more ways than we can ever put our hands on,” daughter Mary Williams told the Clarion-Ledger.

“This is a testimony that will live longer than we will.”