A woman who woke up at her own wake has officially died in intensive care. Source: Norbert Kaiser, Wikimedia Commons
76-year-old Bella Montoya, who was declared dead before waking up at her own wake earlier this month, has now died in intensive care.
The woman shocked her relatives when she knocked on her coffin at her own wake and was rushed to hospital where she spent seven days in intensive care before passing away.
The woman’s son, Gilberto Barbera Montoya, told the Associated Press that she died on Friday evening, according to doctors at the hospital she was taken to.
Ecuador’s health ministry has confirmed that Ms Montoya died from an ischemic stroke after a week in intensive care.
Gilberto Barbera Montoya said that he had not yet received any report from the authorities explaining how this happened but warned that things “are not going to stay like this.”
Mr Montoya added that a sister of the deceased woman has made a formal complaint about the incident, seeking to identify the doctor who had originally declared her dead.
Ms Montoya reportedly woke up on the 9th of June and began knocking after being in the coffin for five hours at a funeral home in Babahoyo, southwest of Quito.
The remains of Ms Montoya are now back at the same funeral home where she woke up, and her son told the Associated Press that she will be buried at a public cemetery.
The country’s ministry of health said that a technical committee has been formed to review how the hospital issues death certificates.
