A 76-year-old woman who was declared ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at a hospital in Ecuador astonished her relatives by knocking on her ᴄᴏғғɪɴ during her wake. The incident, which has left the community in disbelief, has prompted a state investigation by the Ministry of Public Health.
Last week, Bella Montoya was pronounced ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at the age of 76 due to a stroke, according to BBC News. Hours into the wake while family members were preparing Montoya for burial, they discovered that she was breathing.
“My mother started to move the left hand, open her eyes, the mouth. She was making an effort to breathe.”, Bella’s son, Gilbert Balberán, told local news outlet El Universo.
“The doctor at noon told me that my mother was ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and was not at the facility,” he continued. “Another one saw me and he gave her oxygen, they intubated her and took her to an (ICU) room where she is under observation.”
Gilberto Barbera captured the incident on video. The footage of the startling event has since gone viral on social media. The clip shows the woman gasping for air in her ᴄᴏғғɪɴ with several people surrounding her calling for an ambulance. Medics are then seen arriving and then moving her onto a stretcher.
Many Twitter users were confused as to how such a thing could happen.
“Maybe the doctors should do a better job,” one person hit back to the recording, while another freaked-out user added: “Okay, ᴢᴏᴍʙɪᴇs are real I’m out.”
Montoya has since been taken back to the hospital for intensive care. Ecuador’s health ministry now has a committee investigating the bizarre incident.
Her son was quoted as saying to the to AFP News Agency: “Little by little I am grasping what has happened. Now I only ᴘʀᴀʏ for my mother’s health to improve. I want her alive and by my side.”
