A strange story happened in a province in China, when someone found a 95-year-old woman no longer lying in a coffin and searched for her. Finally saw her sitting healthy cooking in the kitchen.
Recently, a neighbor found Ms. Li Xiufeng lying motionless and breathless in a convalescent bed, after more than 2 weeks of falls and head injuries at her home in Guangxi province, China.
Ms. Li lived alone, and when she fell, she had to lie in a place where no one would take care of her, so Mr. Chen, her neighbor, brought breakfast every day. One day, he failed to wake up the 95-year-old woman and assumed she had died in her sleep.
“She didn’t wake up so I went to wake her up. No matter how hard I pushed and called names, she didn’t react. I sensed something was wrong so I tried putting my hand in her nose and found she wasn’t breathing. I thought the old lady was gone, but her b.ody wasn’t cold yet,” Mr. Chen said.
As mentioned, because Mrs. Li lived alone, Mr. Chen and his son prepared for her funeral. The father and son decided to keep the old woman’s coffin in the house for a few days for relatives and friends to come and see her face one last time.
According to Chen, Li will be placed in a coffin on Dec. 19, 2023. Later, the kind neighbor did not close the lid of the coffin until before the scheduled burial date of December 24, 2023.
The day before the funeral, Mr. Chen went to Ms. Li Xiufeng’s house when he suddenly found the coffin empty and she had also disappeared. “We were so scared that we immediately called on our neighbors to come and help,” he said.
While firefighters searched for the r.emains of missing Li, villagers were shocked to find her cooking in the kitchen. “I slept for a long time. After waking up, I felt so hungry and wanted to cook something to eat. I had to push the lid of the coffin for a long time to climb out,” the 95-year-old said.
Consulting a doctor at a local hospital, Ms. Li Xiufeng, 95, experienced fake d.eath, meaning that the patient no longer has breath but the b.ody is still warm.
“Thanks to the local tradition of leaving the coffin in the house for a few days before being buried, the elderly woman can live,” the doctor added. However, the people of this area have a custom of burning the belongings of the deceased, so Mrs. Li has lost a lot of her daily belongings.
Not long ago, an elderly woman in Ecuador also suddenly woke up after being confirmed dead, even demanding to open the lid of the coffin at her own funeral, causing many people to panic.
Bella Montoya, 76, is a retired nurse. On June 9, she was taken to a hospital in the central Ecuadorian city of Babahoyo by family members for a stroke and signs of cardiopulmonary arrest. There, despite doctors’ efforts to resuscitate him, the patient died not long after.
According to the Associated Press, Bella’s family was also given a d.eath certificate before taking the r.emains home for post-mortem. However, as the funeral was being held, people heard a sound coming from inside the coffin that shocked everyone.
“After she lay in her clothes for about 5 hours, we heard a strange noise so we opened it. She was still wrapped in cloth and was breathing heavily,” said one of the 76-year-old’s children.
Video footage taken by witnesses showed Bella still showing signs of life and breathing difficulties. She was immediately taken back to the hospital by relatives and placed in intensive care.
Speaking to the media, Gilbert, the 76-year-old’s son, said the hospital gave them a d.eath certificate but a few hours later his mother was alive and on oxygen. “Her heart is stable. The doctor pinched her hand and she reacted. They told me it was a good sign,” Gilbert said.
Recalling the moment he saw his mother “come to life”, Gilbert said: “My mother tried to hit the coffin with her left hand. That scene I will probably never forget. Of course I’m slowly coming to terms with what happened. I want her to be alive and by my side.”
According to media reports, Bella experienced catalepsy, a prolonged immobility that is common in schizophrenia or in a trance.
Ecuador’s health ministry decided to investigate the doctors involved in the 76-year-old’s case, and a committee has been set up to look into how the hospital issued d.eath certificates. At the time, no details were released about the doctor who had previously declared Bella Montoya dead.
Some similar incidents have been recorded in the United States. Last December, care facilities in Iowa mistakenly announced a 66-year-old had died and took her to a funeral home, where she woke up “gasping.” In 2020, a young woman who was pronounced dead suddenly opened her eyes as she prepared to be shrouded.
Earlier, such an incident also happened in 2018 in India. This is the case for Budh Ram, 95, who lives in the northwestern region of the country. After telling her children and grandchildren about her chest tightness, Ram fainted and was seen by a personal doctor.
There, the doctor said he had just left. However, as his family was preparing to follow local etiquette, he suddenly moved, and was even able to sit up. “It’s like a miracle,” Ram’s son said.
