A woman who woke up during her funeral in Ecuador died this Friday

(CNN Spanish) — In Ecuador, Bella Montoya – a 76-year-old woman who woke up during her funeral a week ago – died this Friday after being in the intensive care unit of the Martin Icaza General Hospital in the coastal city of Papahoyo in Los province. Rios.

Ecuador’s Ministry of Public Health confirmed that Montoya had been in intensive care for seven days “in critical condition and with an ischemic cerebrovascular event”.

“During his stay at the hospital, he received comprehensive medical care and periodic evaluation by hospital specialists. Likewise, a respective medical audit was carried out in this case,” the ministry said in a statement.

The woman’s son, Gilbert Barberon, told CNN that Montoya died Friday afternoon.

“Yes, my mother died at 5 pm. We are already monitoring her,” Barbaran announced, adding that he would have to go through new procedures at the civil registry to register his mother’s death a second time.

Montoya’s daughter, Jenita Leal, told CNN that her mother had gotten worse in recent days after waking up from the funeral and being admitted to intensive care.

“The doctor said that my mother is not well. That she is very gentle. That she was suffering from kidney failure. Everything got complicated and he was suffocating and he couldn’t be saved,” Leal told CNN.

He also explained that his mother had suffered a stroke during her hospitalization last week, days before she was first pronounced dead.

How did the Montoya case happen?

After being pronounced dead, Montoya was found with vital signs and his coffin was kicked during his funeral. Surprised and distraught relatives reported what happened on June 10 in a video that went viral on social media, and after opening the coffin, they realized the woman was still breathing.

“I picked up the casket, her heart was beating, her left arm was hitting the casket… we called 911 to get her here to the hospital,” Barberon said in a video posted on social media.

After the discovery, they called the emergency services, who transferred her to the Martin Icaza de Papahoyo Hospital for treatment.

Ecuador’s health ministry announced in a statement on June 11 that Montoya had been admitted to the same hospital with a presumptive diagnosis of “cerebrovascular accident.”

Subsequently, according to the agency, the 76-year-old woman had a “cardiorespiratory arrest” to which she did not respond after performing resuscitation maneuvers, for which the on-duty doctor confirmed her death.

An open inquiry

The Martin Icaza de Babahoyo Hospital is state-owned, which is why the Ministry of Health announced on June 11 that it had convened a medical audit committee to assess liability in the Montoya case.

“To investigate the case in depth, the Ministry of Health will form a national technical team in coordination with the Health Services Quality Assurance Agency and initiate a medical audit to establish responsibilities for the alleged confirmed death,” he said. Ministry in this case.

CNN contacted Ecuador’s Ministry of Health this Friday night to find out if the investigation is closed and if there are any final results in the Montoya case. CNN is awaiting a response.