'Dead' woman who woke up in her own coffin dies a week later
An Ecuadorian woman who seemingly rose from the dead when she began knocking on the inside of her coffin at her own funeral — has been declared dead again seven days later.
Bella Montoya, 76, was confirmed dead Friday evening after spending about a week in intensive care following her cryptic awakening, her family and the country’s health ministry confirmed.
“This time my mother really did die. My life will not be the same,” her son Gilbert Barbera said, according to a local newspaper article translated by the BBC.
The retired nurse died from an ischemic stroke while she was being watched under “permanent surveillance” in the ICU, the ministry said in a statement.
Hospital workers had originally pronounced Montoya dead on June 9 after she reportedly suffered cardiorespiratory arrest.
She spent about five hours inside a coffin and woke up in the middle of her wake — shocking loved ones gathered in the city of Babahoyo to mourn her death.
Bella Montoya, 76, was declared dead twice in one week after she was mistakenly issued a death certificate the first time.
Loved ones were shocked when they heard Montoya knocking on the inside of her coffin. Jam Press Vid
Incredible video from the vigil shows family members and medics removing the woman from the coffin as she gasps for air.
She was then rushed to the same hospital where she was first declared dead.
Now, Montoya’s remains will return back to the same funeral home where she was found stirring in her coffin. She will be buried at a public cemetery, her son said.
Following the hospital’s shocking mistake, a technical committee was formed to investigate how it declares deaths and issues death certificates.
The ministry of health did not provide any updates on the probe over the weekend.
Barbera also said he has not received any reports from authorities explaining his mother’s incorrect death declaration.
Incredible video from the wake shows the woman gasping for breath as she lays in the open coffin. Jam Press Vid
The retired nurse died from an ischemic stroke Friday evening, seven days after she was incorrectly pronounced dead. Jam Press Vid
Initial reports from local media said that experts speculated that Montoya may have suffered catalepsy as a result of cardiorespiratory arrest.
Catalepsy is a condition that causes the rigidity of the body, decreased pain sensitivity and slower bodily functions such as breathing.
His aunt, the sister of Montoya, has lodged a formal complaint about the traumatic mishap with the goal of identifying the doctor who issued the first death certificate.
While the woman’s wrongful death declaration is shocking, such mistakes have been made before.
Earlier this year, an 82-year-old woman was discovered breathing by funeral home staff after she was pronounced dead and brought to the Long Island funeral parlor.
Around the same time, an Iowa nursing home was fined $10,000 for similarly pronouncing a hospice patient dead and shipping her to a funeral home when she was actually alive.
With Post wires.
Source: New York Post
