A 76-year-old woman from Ecuador who woke up during her own funeral has passed away after spending a week in intensive care. Bella Montoya, who used to work as a nurse, died from an ischemic stroke after the strange event that made headlines around the world earlier this month.
According to The Guardian, the health ministry in Ecuador confirmed that Montoya died after being watched closely by doctors during her stay in intensive care. They did not share more information about the medical review that is looking into what happened.
The unusual story started when Montoya woke up and started knocking after being inside her coffin for five hours at a funeral home in Babahoyo, a city about 208 kilometers away from Quito. Her family members had come together for her wake when they heard knocking sounds from the coffin, which led to her being rushed to a hospital right away.
This family deserves answers
Gilberto Barbera Montoya, her son, said he has not gotten any official report from the government about what happened.
He made it clear that the family will keep looking for answers, warning that things “are not going to stay like this.” One of Montoya’s sisters has filed an official complaint about what happened, trying to find out which doctor said she was dead in the first place.
This has made people ask serious questions about how doctors in Ecuador check if someone has died. After this happened, the health ministry said last week that a special group has been set up to look at how the hospital gives out death certificates. This check is meant to stop something like this from happening again.
In June 2023, 76-year-old Bella Montoya of Ecuador woke up at her own funeral after being mistakenly declared dead from a suspected stroke. Relatives heard noises from her coffin and found her breathing. After five hours in the coffin, she was rushed back to the hospital but died… pic.twitter.com/yXM2LoNyoQ
— Morbid Knowledge (@Morbidful) January 2, 2025
Montoya’s body has been taken back to the same funeral home in Babahoyo where she woke up the first time. Her son said that she will be buried at a public cemetery. The family now must go through the sad process of burying their loved one for a second time while they wait for answers about the mistake that led to her being declared dead too early.
What happened shows why doctors need to be very careful when checking if someone has died before they sign death certificates. While other people have also been wrongly declared dead in rare cases, these stories remind us that doctors need to check properly and follow the right steps.
In some shocking cases, hospital workers have even started preparing bodies before patients showed they were still alive. The investigation into this case is still going on as officials try to figure out how such a big mistake could happen.
