A woman certified dead by a doctor in Ecuador has terrified mourners by hitting the coffin as they gathered to pay their respects.
Following the alarming discovery, relatives rushed 76-year-old Bella Montoya back to the same hospital that had issued her death certificate earlier that day.
In 2013, a patient in the state of New York woke up on the operating table as her organs were about to be harvested after she had been declared dead.
Alive
Bella’s son, Gilberto Barbera, described the funeral scene to Associated Press: “There were about 20 of us there. After about five hours of the wake, the coffin started to make sounds.
“My mom was wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin, and when we approached we could see that she was breathing heavily.” He remarked: “It gave us all a fright.”
Initially admitted to hospital with a suspected heart attack, Bella was declared dead after being deemed unresponsive to resuscitation. On her return to hospital, she is now in intensive care.
Presumed consent
In 2013, Colleen S Burns was declared dead, but later woke up on the operating table in New York State as her organs were about to be harvested.
An investigation found that doctors missed key indications that the patient was still alive.
Critics of the UK’s ‘presumed consent’ for organ donation have warned that such a scheme may also result in organs being harvested more often from patients who are not yet dead.