Ecuadorian mourners were reportedly shocked after hearing their “dead” relative knocking from inside the coffin during her funeral.
Family members and friends held the vigil of Bella Montoya, 76, in the city of Babahoyo on June 9, the New York Post (NYP) reported. Montoya unexpectedly “came back to life” during the ceremony, according to the NYP. Video appears to show Montoya surrounded by her loved ones and medics coming to help her, pulling her out of the casket and placing her on a stretcher.
“Her left hand was hitting the side of the coffin, and it was shaking,” Gilbert Balberán, Montoya’s son, told local media, according to the NYP. (RELATED: 82-Year-Old Woman Found Alive At Funeral Home After Being Pronounced Dead)
‘Dead’ woman wakes in coffin at her own funeral: ‘Miracle from God’ https://t.co/jdFuBgzpV2 pic.twitter.com/x0FFzlgNz9
— New York Post (@nypost) June 12, 2023
The funeral service reportedly took place four hours after officials declared Montoya dead, with examiners giving Balberán an official death certificate of his mother, attributing the cause to a cardiorespiratory arrest, according to the outlet. Montoya suffered from catalepsy, a state of apparent death that stiffens the body, slows down the respiratory function of the individual and decreases the reaction to pain, the NYP reported. Hospital staff allegedly believed Montoya was dead due to the symptoms she was exhibiting.
“My mother is on oxygen. Her heart is stable,” Balberán reportedly said. “The doctor squeezed her hand, and she reacted. They tell me this is a good sign because it means she is reacting little by little.”
The young man called this event a “miracle from God,” saying he is still trying to understand what had happened, according to the NYP. “Now, I only ask that my mother’s health improves,” Balberán added. “I want her alive and by my side.”
The ministry of health in Ecuador has put a technical team in charge of probing the hospital’s alleged mistake of pronouncing Montoya dead, according to the outlet.
A young Mexican child was found to be alive at her funeral when her family noticed fog forming on the glass of her coffin, the NYP reported in August 2022. She was brought to the hospital alive, but passed away minutes later, according to the outlet.