- Bella Montoya was pronounced dead on Friday after suffering “cardiac arrest” at a hospital in Ecuador before her family found her in a coffin
- Her son said she fell ill at their home and then rushed her to a hospital, where a doctor pronounced her dead three hours after she was admitted
- Montoya remains hospitalized at the same facility, where another doctor gave her oxygen and intubated her
Stunning footage showed the moment a 76-year-old woman came back to life after a doctor pronounced her dead at a hospital in Ecuador.
Bella Montoya fell ill at her home on Friday and was taken to Martín Icaza Hospital in Los Rios province.
Her son, Gilbert Balberán, told El Universo that she was admitted at 9am and pronounced dead at 12pm after suffering a stroke.
Montoya spent four hours in the coffin and was about to change at a funeral home where her funeral was to be held when around 8:50 p.m. her family noticed that she was showing signs of life.
“My mother started moving her left hand, opening her eyes and mouth,” Balberán told the newspaper. “She struggled to breathe.”
Gilbert Balberán said his 76-year-old mother, Bella Montoya (pictured), moved her mouth, arm and breathing after they opened the coffin she had been in for four hours after being hospitalized in Ecuador for Bella Montoya, who was suffering from heart problems, reportedly suffered a stroke hours before she was admitted to hospital on Friday and was pronounced dead by a doctor at Martín Icaza Hospital in Los Rios, Ecuador
Footage showed Balberán instructing one person to call 911 while he and another person wrapped their hands around her head and left arm.
You can see Montoya gasping for breath and moving her jaw.
Moments later, paramedics arrived and placed her body on a stretcher before taking her to Martín Icaza Hospital, where she was placed in intensive care.
“The doctor at noon told me my mother was dead and not at the facility. “Another saw me and gave her oxygen, she was intubated and taken to an intensive care room where she is under observation,” he said.
Gilbert Balberán and a man (right) put their hands on Bella Montoya’s body after noticing it was moving after the coffin was opened to allow family members to change their clothes before being viewed at a funeral home in Ecuador on Friday night could. Bella Montoya remains hospitalized at Martín Icaza Hospital in Los Rios, Ecuador, where a doctor pronounced her dead on Friday afternoon. Her family discovered she was moving in her coffin before a tour of the funeral home on Friday night. Her son said the 76-year-old moved one of her hands, opened her eyes and breathed
Balberán said his mother has high blood pressure and heart problems and reportedly suffered a stroke early Friday morning.
Medical experts contacted by El Universo believe Montoya was in a state of catalepsy.
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, it is “a condition characterized by inactivity, decreased responsiveness to stimuli, and a tendency to maintain an immobile posture.”
Officials at Martín Icaza Hospital had not dealt with the incident as of Monday.
The death certificate noted that her death was caused by “cardiac arrest due to an unspecified cerebrovascular disease.”
Balberán is expected to file an incident report with the local prosecutor’s office on Monday, accusing Martīn Icaza Hospital of negligence.