An Ecuadoran woman who had been declared dead and was then hospitalised after being found alive inside her coffin has been declared dead for a second time, according to health officials in the country.
Bella Montoya was initially admitted to Martín Icaza Hospital on 9 June after a suspected stroke. She went into cardiorespiratory arrest and was declared dead by a doctor.
About five hours into the wake, on the same day, her son heard noises coming from the coffin.
“The coffin started to make sounds,” he told the Associated Press. He said his mother was “wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin”.
But the apparent resurrection did not mean the 76-year-old former nurse had suddenly made a miraculous recovery, reports The Washington Post.
She was lifted out of the coffin on to a stretcher, and transported back to the hospital in critical condition.
After a week in ICU, Montoya was declared dead last Friday, after experiencing an “ischemic cerebrovascular event”, the Health Ministry said, which was also investigating how she had been declared dead the first time.
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