Ecuador: Woman declared dead bangs on coffin during her own wake

[BetteDavisEyes]

Woman who was declared dead bangs on coffin during her own wake

“It gave us all a fright,” said the woman's son.

www.nbcnews.com

Mourners in Ecuador had gathered at the funeral of retired nurse Bella Montoya when they heard strange noises coming from inside the coffin.

This might sound like a trope from a horror movie, but relatives were startled to see that Montoya — who had been declared dead after suffering a suspected stroke and cardiac arrest — was actually still alive and breathing, her family and officials said Monday.

“It gave us all a fright,” her son, Gilberto Barbera, told the Associated Press.

The woman, 76, was unconscious when her family took her to the hospital in the central city of Babahoyo on Friday, her son told the AP...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Woman who revived and knocked on coffin at her own funeral has now died

Bella Montoya shocked relatives by waking up at her own funeral about a week ago, having been declared dead after a suspected stroke.

www.nbcnews.com

An Ecuadorian woman who regained consciousness at her own funeral has now died after spending a week in intensive care, the country’s health ministry said over the weekend.

Relatives of retired nurse Bella Montoya were shocked to hear noises coming from her coffin earlier this month after she was declared dead following a suspected stroke. She was rushed straight back to the hospital in Ecuador's central city of Babahoyo, where officials described her condition as “unstable” and her family said doctors hadn’t given them much hope of a recovery.

Late Friday, the Ecuadorian health ministry said in a statement that Montoya, 76, had died, giving her cause of death as a stroke. It said she had been under constant monitoring while in the ICU...

 

[wdmcmahan]

That is bizarre. I wonder if embalming isn’t a common practice in Equador. Off to Google!