A 76-year-old woman who shocked her relatives by knocking on her coffin during her funeral earlier this month has died after seven days in intensive care.
Ecuadorian Bella Montoya was placed in her coffin at 2 pm on June 9, but horrified her family, when, four hours later, they opened the coffin to change her clothes and found her gasping for breath.
However, it has now been officially announced that she has died "again" from a stroke after spending a week in intensive care.
Ecuador’s health ministry confirmed the death in a statement and added that she had remained under "permanent surveillance" but didn’t provide further information on the medical investigation surrounding the case.
Gilberto Barbera Montoya, the woman’s son, told the Associated Press that doctors at the state hospital where she was rushed after the incident said that she died on Friday evening.
Gilberto said that he hadn’t yet received any report from the authorities on the medical explanation of what happened and warned that things "are not going to stay like this."
He added that his aunt had formally complained about the incident, of her first "death" and was seeking to identify the doctor who declared her end of life to begin with.
The person filming at the funeral home said at the time in a video: "We are here at 509 Olmedo Street, where a person who was declared dead in the hospital has been in the coffin since noon, and it turns out the lady is alive. At this moment, we can see that she has vital signs.
"She is struggling to breathe; we called the emergency services, but they told us they will call us back and that there is no ambulance."
She was reportedly heard hitting the coffin from inside.
Just last week, Gilberto tragically said: "I am slowly coming to terms with what has happened. Now, I only ask for my mother's health to improve. I want her to be alive and by my side."
He told the AP that she will now be buried at a public cemetery.
A technical committee has been formed to review how the hospital issues death certificates, the country’s Ministry of Health said last week.
