Around 20 relatives gathered at the wake of a 76-year-old dead woman in Ecuador on Friday, but after five hours of mourning their loved one, they heard a knock — from within the coffin.
The coffin then began to make other noises as well, according to ABC.
"It gave us all a fright," the dead woman's son recalled. But fright turned to shock when the group walked up to the coffin and noticed the woman was no longer dead. "My mom was wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin, and when we approached we could see that she was breathing heavily."
Although the hospital had issued a death certificate, it turns out the patient — who had been admitted to the hospital earlier that day following a suspected stroke and cardiopulmonary arrest —hadn't actually died. Oops.
From ABC News:
Relatives left the coffin behind and rushed retired nurse Bella Montoya back to the hospital after the wake Friday in the central city of Babahoyo, son Gilberto Barbera told The Associated Press. …
Barbera said his mother was unconscious when she was brought to the emergency room and that a few hours later a doctor informed him she was dead and handed over identity documents and a death certificate.
The family then brought her to a funeral home and were holding a wake later Friday when they started to hear strange sounds.
Though he and relatives rushed her back to the hospital Friday, she was still in serious condition Monday. …
No details have been released about the doctor who had prematurely declared the woman dead.
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