Ecuadorian Woman Wakes Up in Coffin at Her Wake After Being Declared Dead at Hospital

Retired nurse Bella Montoya, 76, from Babahoyo, Ecuador was found alive in her coffin at her wake on June 9.

Montoya allegedly suffered a stroke and cardiopulmonary arrest. The elderly woman was declared dead on Friday at noon by a doctor in a Babahoyo hospital.

As per the Ministry of Health, she “suffered from cardiac and respiratory arrest without responding to resuscitation attempts, after which the duty doctor confirmed her death.”

For that reason, loved ones like Montoya’s son Gilberto Barbera never thought they would see Montoya breathe ever again. However, as Barbera explained to the Associated Press, “After about five hours of the wake, the coffin started to make sounds.”

Montoya began “hitting the coffin” and was found “breathing heavily”

As Montoya’s son explained, she was unconscious when she arrived to the emergency room. Hours later, a doctor handed him a death certificate, informing him that his mother was dead. The official cause of the supposed death was cardiopulmonary arrest.

Barbera told El País, “Something was telling me that she was not dead and I asked to see her, but they didn’t allow me to.” Montoya was then taken to the funeral home.

At around 6 PM on Friday, Montoya’s 20 closest loved ones attended her wake. While everyone paid their respects, they soon noticed “sounds” coming out of the coffin. Barbera described, “We heard someone hitting the coffin.”

“Friends placed flowers on top of the coffin, around her face,” the son explained. “Until we realized [the noises] came from my mom. She is alive!”

Barbera told Associated Press that they realized she was alive “after about five hours of the wake.”

He recalled, “My mom was wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin, and when we approached we could see that she was breathing heavily.”

A video of the moment shows Montoya’s loved ones realizing she is alive, seeing how she was opening her mouth to breathe.

Later, paramedics arrived, wrapped her in blankets, and took her back to the hospital.

Montoya is now in intensive care at the hospital: “She has a pulse”

Barbera explained how shocking the moment was for Montoya’s loved ones. “It gave us all a fright.”

Still, the woman’s son also described the situation as a “miracle from God.”

Montoya was taken back to the same hospital that treated her before the wake.

Barbera said, “My mother is on oxygen. Her heart is stable.”

“The doctor squeezed her hand, and she reacted,” he explained. “They tell me this is a good sign because it means she is reacting little by little.”

As per The Guardian, Montoya is being treated in intensive care under intubation. Doctors are weary of offering much hope to her loved ones.

Still, as her son told El País, “Now she has a pulse and her heart is beating.”

Now, Ecuador’s Ministry of Health is investigating the case with a medical audit to “determine responsibility” for the incorrect death certificate.