Moment Ecuadorian woman, 76, knocks on her coffin and ‘comes back to life’ at her own funeral – hours after doctor pronounced her dead at hospital
- Bella Montoya was pronounced dead after a “cardiorespiratory arrest” at an Ecuador hospital Friday before her family moved her into a coffin
- Her son said she fell ill at their home and then rushed her to a hospital, where a doctor pronounced her dead three hours after she was admitted.
- Montoya remains in the hospital in the same facility, where another doctor gave her oxygen and intubated her
Stunning footage captured the moment a 76-year-old woman came back to life after a doctor pronounced her dead at a hospital in Ecuador.
Bella Montoya fell ill at home on Friday and was taken to Martín Icaza Hospital in Los Rios province.
Her son, Gilbert Balberán, told El Universo she was admitted at 9 a.m. and pronounced dead at 12 a.m. after suffering a stroke.
Montoya spent four hours in the coffin and was about to change clothes at a funeral home where her viewing was to take place when her family noticed she was showing signs of life around 8:50 p.m.
“My mother started moving the left hand, opening her eyes, the mouth,” Balberán told the paper. “She tried her best to breathe.”
Gilbert Balberán said his 76-year-old mother, Bella Montoya (pictured), moved her mouth and arm and breathed after they opened the coffin she had been lying in for four hours after being pronounced dead at a hospital in Ecuador after suffering a stroke
Bella Montoya, who suffered from heart problems, was reported to have suffered a stroke on Friday hours before she was hospitalized and pronounced dead by a doctor at Martín Icaza Hospital in Los Rios, Ecuador
The footage showed Balberán instructing one person to call 911 as he and another person placed their hands around her head and left arm.
Montoya can be seen struggling to breathe and moving her jaw.
Moments later, paramedics arrived and placed her body on a stretcher before rushing her to Martín Icaza Hospital, where she was placed in intensive care.
“The doctor told me at noon that my mother was dead and not in the hospital. Another saw me and he gave her oxygen, they intubated her and took her to an (ICU) room where she is under observation,” he said.
Gilbert Balberán and a man (right) placed their hands on Bella Montoya’s body after noticing her moving after the coffin was opened for family members to change prior to a viewing at a funeral home in Ecuador on Friday night
Bella Montoya remains hospitalized at Martín Icaza Hospital in Los Rios, Ecuador, where a doctor pronounced her dead Friday afternoon. Her family discovered she was moving in her coffin ahead of a Friday night viewing at the funeral home. Her son said the 76-year-old moved one of her hands, opened her eyes and breathed
Balberán explained that his mother suffered from hypertension and heart problems and reportedly suffered a stroke on Friday morning.
Medical experts reached by El Universo believe Montoya was in a state of catalepsy.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, it is “a condition characterized by inactivity, decreased response to stimuli, and a tendency to adopt an immobile posture.”
Officials at the Martín Icaza Hospital had yet to deal with the incident on Monday.
The death certificate stated that her death was caused by “cardiorespiratory arrest due to unspecified cerebrovascular disease.”
Balberán is expected to file an incident report with the local prosecutor’s office on Monday, accusing Martīn Icaza Hospital of negligence.