We often hear about people coming back to life and recalling what they saw. However, most of these stories happen at hospitals. For one person, it is the stuff of nightmares and almost sounds like the plot of a movie.
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Bella Montoya (76) had to live through one of the most distressing moments of her life. After suffering cardiac arrest, she was declared dead by a doctor. The woman's son recalled the tale of his mother waking up during the funeral.
The hospital's huge medical error
On Friday, June 9, Bella Montoya was rushed to the emergency room after suffering a stroke, which can be more likely during extreme weather. According to the doctors, the stroke had taken its toll on her. The Ministry of Health even declared that the 79-year-old had:
suffered cardiorespiratory arrest without responding to resuscitation, after which the doctor on duty confirmed her death
In the eyes of the doctors, Bella Montoya was therefore dead, and it was only logical that her relatives should get together to plan her funeral.
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She started to move
In reality, Bella Montoya wasn't dead, or rather, she came back to life 8 hours later. She woke up in her coffin as her relatives began to change her clothes. Her son, Gilvert Balberan, explained to the press:
My mother started to move her left hand, to open her eyes, her mouth.
Following this 'resurrection', doctors placed Bella Montoya on oxygen and her condition is now stable. Her son recalled:
My mom is on oxygen. Her heart is stable. The doctor pinched her hand and she reacted.
But if the family is happy to cancel the funeral, the error of judgement of the doctor who pronounced her dead is serious and could have had dramatic consequences if Bella Montoya had woken up a few hours later.
According to Ecuador's Ministry of Health, an audit will be carried out to 'analyze this case in depth' and determine who is responsible for this medical error.
This tweet translates to:
An elderly woman, named Bella Montoya, was presumed dead at the hospital in Babahoyo.
She was handed over to her son at noon to conduct the wake, but hours later they realized she was still alive.
The woman has now died
In a sad turn of events, it has now been confirmed that the Ecuardian woman died, a week after her 'first' death. As reported by BBC, Montoya was in intensive care for a week in the same hospital that had originally declared her dead the first time. On Friday, June 16, she died from an ischemic stroke.
Her son, Gilbert Barbera, spoke with a local newspaper and said:
This time my mother really did die. My life will not be the same.
This article was translated from Gentside FR.
Sources used:
Le Parisien: 'Elle frappait les parois de son cercueil' : déclarée morte, une femme de 76 ans se réveille en Équateur
BBC: 'Woman who knocked on coffin at her funeral dies after week in hospital'