A woman in Ecuador has woken up inside a coffin during her own funeral.
76-year-old Bella Montoya was pronounced dead in hospital on Friday (June 9) after suffering a suspected stroke.
Her family then brought her to a funeral home, where they held a wake for her later that day.
Five hours later, however, Bella was heard taking a deep breath from within the casket. A video has since been posted on social media detailing the terrifying ordeal. This footage may be upsetting to some.
An Ecuadorian woman has risen from the 'dead' after almost being buried alive.
Shocking video footage shows the moment 76-year-old Bella Montoya was rescued from a coffin after being stuck inside for over four hours. Her family discovered her as they were preparing to change her… pic.twitter.com/JfjqSUykBi
— 10 News First (@10NewsFirst) June 13, 2023
In the video, two men can be seen approaching Bella who is breathing heavily.
She's since been admitted to intensive care and placed on artificial respiration. Ecuador's Ministry of Health says it's investigating how the hospital involved issued a 'false' death certificate.
Funeral home staff find care home resident alive inside body bag
This isn't the first time a similar incident has occurred. Earlier this year Beat reported a circumstance in which a 'dead body' collected from a care home was, in fact, alive.
The unnamed woman, who was placed inside a zipped body bag, was found to be breathing by staff at Ankey Funeral Home & Crematory in Iowa.
On making the alarming discovery, staff at the funeral home called 911 after which she was taken to a local hospital where she was found by doctors to be breathing but unresponsive.
The woman was then brought to hospice care where she died two days later surrounded by her family.
The Iowa care home which had been caring for the 66-year-old Alzheimer's resident is now being fined $10,000 for failing to provide adequate direction to ensure appropriate care and services were provided before the woman was declared dead.
During an investigation by The Department of Inspection, a staff member and a nurse both claimed that they failed to locate a pulse and it was evident that the woman was not breathing.
Furthermore, a funeral home employee and a second nurse practitioner who placed the woman inside the body bag an hour after the woman had been declared dead also found no signs of life.
Following the investigation, The Department of Inspection found that the care home "failed to provide adequate direction to ensure appropriate cares and services were provided” before the woman was declared dead.
Executive director of Glen Oaks Alzheimer’s Special Care Centre, Linda Eastman, said in a statement that the centre remains committed to supporting end-of-life care: “All of our employees are given regular training in how best to support end-of-life care and the death transition for our residents."
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