Ecuadorian woman who woke up during wake is really dead now
An elderly Ecuadoran woman who woke up inside a coffin at her own wake has now died for real, authorities said Sunday, June 18.
A video posted on social media last week shows Bella Montoya, 76, in her open coffin breathing heavily while two men assist her. Her son, Gilbert Barbera, said she had been banging on the inside of the casket, desperate to get out as her relatives mourned her.
She had been erroneously declared dead on June 9.
INSÓLITO !! La iban a velar pero estaba VIVA
Bella Montoya, mujer de la tercera edad fue dada por muerta en el hospital de Babahoyo
Se la entregaron a su hijo al medio día para que realizara el velatorio! Pero a las 18:30 se dieron cuenta que aún estaba viva.#Babahoyo… pic.twitter.com/E84hcN3nzn— Ecuador Comunicación (@ecuadorprensaec) June 10, 2023
After the ordeal at the wake, Montoya was kept in the hospital in the town of Babahoyo. She died of a stroke on Friday, June 16, the regional health department said.
"This time my mother really did die," Barbera was quoted as saying by the newspaper El Universo. "My life will not be the same."
The Health Ministry has ordered a probe into how she was declared dead in error the first time.
Local news reports said Montoya suffered from a condition called catalepsy, in which a person loses sensation and consciousness and the body becomes rigid. (AFP)