Seventy-six-year-old retired nurse Bella Montoya was taken to a hospital in Ecuador Friday morning after an apparent stroke and cardiopulmonary arrest. When she did not respond to resuscitation efforts she was declared dead.

Later that afternoon her family gathered at a funeral home for her wake and were more than a little surprised when they heard her knocking on the inside of her coffin.

Montoya's son, Gilberto Barbera, described what happened, saying,

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.

Five hours wrapped up inside a coffin! I can only imagine what was going through her mind when she woke up.

Barbera went on to say,

It gave us all a fright.

No kidding!

The family then rushed her back to the same hospital that declared her dead just a few hours prior. I think I'd be looking at transferring hospitals ASAP if I were her family.

She is still in critical condition. Her son says that their family is praying and hopeful that she will recover.