MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Resuscitating” Ecuadorian woman dies

Montoya suffered an “ischemic stroke” that ended her life, it was reported

The Ecuadorian woman who made the news worldwide last week for being almost buried alive, has died Friday aged 76, it was reported. Bella Montoya had been pronounced dead on June 9 at a public hospital in Babahoyo, in southwestern Ecuador.

As her relatives mourned her, she woke up and banged on the coffin calling for help. A video went viral on social networks showing Montoya breathing heavily after her relatives opened the coffin.

Read also: “Dead” woman knocks on her coffin in Ecuador

The woman had been taken back to the hospital where she stayed at the Intensive Care Unit until Friday, when she suffered an “ischemic stroke,” according to local medical authorities.

Montoya's son Gilberto Barbera confirmed the death. ”This time my mother has died (...), my life will no longer be the same”, he declared.

Ecuador's Health Ministry announced an investigation into Montoya's unfounded June 9 death certificate. Hospital sources claimed the elderly woman did not respond to resuscitation efforts on June 9. According to local media, Montoya was reported to have had catalepsy, a nervous disorder that paralyzes the body.