News has gone viral about a woman from Gaithersburg, Maryland, who was mistakenly declared dead, a mistake that caused serious issues in her life.
Nicole Paulino found out about the error when she tried to renew her driver’s license and was shocked to receive a message saying she was officially dead.
Nicole told NBC4 Washington, “I was frightened and surprised because I am alive. I’m here.” At first, the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) informed her that she couldn’t renew her license because of the mistake.
Then, things took a worse turn when she received a letter from the IRS calling her a “deceased taxpayer.” To make matters worse, her health insurance was canceled, leaving her without coverage for herself and her three children.
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This meant she couldn’t get the inhaler she needs for her asthma, and she began receiving medical bills she couldn’t pay.
“I’m telling you, this really messes up my life,” Nicole said, fighting back tears. “It has affected my health, my mental health.” Her situation went viral when people online shared her story, sympathising with the challenges she was facing.
After the viral news spread, Nicole received a call from the Social Security Administration, who explained that the mistake was caused by a typo.
A funeral home had mistakenly reported someone else as dead but accidentally used Nicole’s Social Security number, which led to the error. While the mistake caused huge stress and confusion, officials assured her that it was corrected.
Social Security told NBC4 Washington that these kinds of mistakes are rare, but not unheard of. In fact, they correct around 10,000 errors like this every year, with less than 0.33 percent of the death reports needing to be fixed.
Nicole later got a letter confirming the error had been fixed and that she was officially alive again. Despite the resolution, the incident left her shaken, and the viral story highlighted how a simple mistake can have huge consequences.
