Hey, I'm Steph, and, or welcome back.

You may have figured out that I am by myself today

because as I am recording literally right now,

Alex is in the Coliseum in Rome,

so he's just a little bit busy and he can't be here today,

which is totally fine even though there is a little bit of FOMO going on on my end,

but even still I am always happy to be here talking to you and telling you an absolutely

terrifying story like the one I have for you today.

And I think I can confidently say that the scenario in this story is my worst nightmare.

And I know I've probably said that a lot on this podcast, but I truly think I mean it this time

because the woman we're talking about today was buried alive.

And yes, terrifying situation.

I think that's something that literally everyone can agree is one of the worst things that can happen to a person and should obviously never happen.

And come to think of it, back long ago in like the 18th century, safety coffins were invented to prevent exactly this.

It was a coffin that was fitted with a pulley mechanism to prevent a premature burial or

allow an occupant to signal that they had been buried alive.

They would basically attach a bell to a string,

and if you woke up alive in your coffin,

you could ring the bell,

someone would hear it, and then they would dig you out.

At least that was the idea.

So the fear of being buried alive has always been around and believe me, it still lives on today because if I woke up in a coffin underground, I think I would spontaneously die from fear and panic. Safety Bell or not.

...