A grieving family was left stunned after Bella Montoya, 76, regained consciousness during her wake, which was held in the Ecuadorian city of Babahoyo last Friday. The attendees noticed that the deceased was still alive after hearing knocks from the inside of the coffin.
In the video you can see medics treating Montoya after her loved ones realized she was still alive and she was taken out of the coffin and placed on a stretcher.
"Her left hand hit the side of the coffin and it shook," Montoya's son, Gilbert Barbera, told local media, according to El Universo.
Barbera claims that his mother "came to life" only four hours after her death was announced - when the medical examiner even provided the family with a death certificate in which the cause of death was listed as cardiac arrest.
“There were about 20 of us there,” he told the Associated Press. “After about five hours of the wake, the coffin started to make sounds. My mom was wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin, and when we approached we could see that she was breathing heavily.”
Side effects of cardiac arrest
According to medical professionals, the cardiac arrest she experienced caused her to suffer from catalepsy - a trance-like neurological state characterized by stiff body and muscles, decreased sensitivity to pain and slower bodily functions such as breathing. As a result, hospital staff likely believed she had passed away.
Montoya is currently being treated at the same hospital that announced her death - and her son reports that her condition is stable.
"My mom is on oxygen. Her heart is stable," he announced, "The doctor squeezed her hand and she responded. They tell me that's a good sign because it means she's slowly starting to respond. Now, I'm just asking for my mother's health to improve. I want her alive and by my side."
While her son described the event as "a miracle from God", he also said he was "still trying to digest what happened there."
Ecuador's Ministry of Health has assigned a technical team to investigate why a death certificate was issued in error.