MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Dead” woman knocks on her coffin in Ecuador

Retired nurse Bella Montoya is under intubation and with little hope of surviving, her relatives told reporters

An Ecuadorian woman who was not quite dead knocked on her coffin during her wake in the central city of Babahoyo, about 200 km southwest of Quito last Friday, it was reported Monday in the South American country. The 76-year-old patient's “resurrection” has prompted a government investigation.

Relatives rushed retired nurse Bella Montoya back to the hospital Friday, son Gilberto Barbera told The Associated Press. “It gave us all a fright,” Barbera said. She was still in serious condition Monday and under intubation, with doctors giving her family little hope about her prognosis.

Montoya was in intensive at the Martín Icaza Hospital in Babahoyo where physicians are now under investigation. A technical committee has been formed to review how the hospital issues death certificates, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

| LO ÚLTIMO: ¡Aunque usted no lo crea!

Una mujer que fue declarada muerta por un médico, revivió en pleno sepelio ante la mirada de sus familiares, inmediatamente fue trasladado al hospital Martin Icaza donde la volvieron a atender, ocurrió en Babahoyo, Ecuador. pic.twitter.com/nYn0o5jDab

— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundial2) June 10, 2023

The patient initially had been admitted Friday at the hospital with a possible stroke and cardiopulmonary arrest, and when she did not respond to resuscitation a doctor on duty declared her dead, the ministry explained.

Barbera said his mother was unconscious when she was brought to the emergency room and that a few hours later a doctor informed him she was dead and handed over identity documents and a death certificate.

The family then took her to a funeral home and were holding a wake later Friday when they started to hear strange sounds. “There were about 20 of us there,” Barbera said. “After about five hours of the wake, the coffin started to make sounds. My mom was wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin, and when we approached we could see that she was breathing heavily.”

(Source: VOA)