They often say sleep is the cousin of death. And every so often the two relatives are mistaken for one another. That was the case on Friday in which crews responding to a report of a body discovered in Lycoming County received quite a scare.
WNEP reports the body was discovered shortly before noon in the Susquehanna River in Williamsport. Sue Hubbard tells the station she found the man floating face up in the river just below a spill-dam, an area where other people have drowned, according to WNEP.
Authorities, as well as the coroner, were called to the scene. The man, who had a life jacket on, appeared to be dead. Just as officials were prepared to investigate however a seemingly miraculous event occurred; the man got up. WNEP cameras rolled as the man stood up and walked out of the river. It turns out he was just floating in the river and fell asleep. The coroner, firefighters, police officers and onlookers were in complete shock.
“I said ‘it’s a miracle!’” said Williamsport Police Captain Michael Orwig to WNEP while laughing.
The man, identified as Joseph Deangelo, spoke to WNEP shortly after.
“I was out like a light,” said Deangelo to WNEP. “But it was comfortable.”
WNEP reports Deangelo likely would’ve slept even longer if not for a dragonfly that landed on his nose, waking him up.
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Deangelo apologized for the confusion but told WNEP he was merely enjoying his life.
“Enjoy life as you have it,” said Deangelo to WNEP. “That’s what I was doing.”
