Michigan woman mistakenly declared dead by government

A Michigan woman spent the last year of her life battling the federal government to prove she's alive.

The problems began for Sarah Jewell when someone in the Social Security Administration filed her number as deceased.

The mistake meant she couldn't get her tax return or renew her driver's license, and her credit cards cancelled automatically.

Jewell said she tried for months to resolve the issue, but got nowhere until she asked a news station to get involved.

The media attention finally got a response from the IRS and Jewell is now alive once again, according to the feds.

The government says Jewell's situation happens to about 9,000 people every year.