14-6-2023 (QUITO) In a bewildering turn of events, Bella Montoya, a 76-year-old woman from Ecuador, was declared dead at a local hospital. However, her grieving relatives were met with astonishment when they heard knocking sounds emanating from inside her coffin during the wake on June 9, 2023.
According to Gilberto Barbera, Montoya’s son, the family hastily removed the elderly woman from the coffin and urgently transported her back to the hospital following the shocking revelation. The incident has prompted an official investigation by Ecuador’s health ministry to scrutinize the hospital’s process of issuing death certificates.
In a press release issued on June 11, 2023, the health ministry of Ecuador announced the establishment of a technical committee tasked with reviewing the hospital’s procedures surrounding the issuance of death certificates.
Reports indicate that Montoya had been admitted to the hospital earlier that day, as she had displayed symptoms suggestive of a stroke and experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest. El Universo, a local Ecuadorian media outlet, stated that Montoya was admitted at 9 a.m. and officially pronounced dead at noon by a doctor.
Barbera recounted that his unconscious mother had been brought to the emergency room, and a few hours later, a doctor informed him of her passing while providing the family with identity documents and a death certificate. The health ministry reiterated that when Montoya failed to respond to resuscitation efforts, the attending physician on duty had deemed her deceased.
After her presumed death, the family transported Montoya to a funeral home where they held the wake. It was during this somber occasion, after approximately four hours had passed, that the inexplicable incident unfolded.
Barbera reported that approximately 20 relatives were present at the gathering when they suddenly “started to hear strange sounds” emanating from the coffin. Montoya had been in the coffin from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., as per Barbera’s account to El Universo.
INSÓLITO !! La iban a velar pero estaba VIVA
Bella Montoya, mujer de la tercera edad fue dada por muerta en el hospital de Babahoyo
Se la entregaron a su hijo al medio dÃa para que realizara el velatorio! Pero a las 18:30 se dieron cuenta que aún estaba viva.#Babahoyo… pic.twitter.com/E84hcN3nzn
— Ecuador Comunicación (@ecuadorprensaec) June 10, 2023
“My mom was wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin, and when we approached, we could see that she was breathing heavily,” described Barbera. A video, shared on Twitter by Ecuadoran media outlet Ecuador Comunicación, captured the moment when the woman inside the coffin, presumably Montoya, exhibited movements of her jaw and mouth.
Paramedics featured in the video swiftly moved Montoya onto a stretcher, during which her mouth opened once again. She was then transported out of the funeral parlor in an ambulance and driven away.
As of Monday, June 12, 2023, Barbera stated that his mother remained in a “serious condition.” AP News reported that Montoya was under intubation, and doctors provided little optimism regarding her prognosis to the concerned relatives.
In a separate article by El Universo, Barbera informed the reporter that his mother is receiving oxygen support, and her heart rate is stable. “The doctor pinched her hand, and she reacted. They tell me that this is good because it meant that she is reacting little by little,” Barbera shared.
