Family gathers for teen’s funeral hours after her death. Then her mother notices something moving in the casket: ‘She got up’
She rose from the dead.
A family in Guatemala was mourning their teen daughter after her father declared her deceased. But during the funeral held just hours after the teen’s passing, the family was taken aback when the daughter suddenly sat up inside her casket and was confused by her own funeral.
On the morning of Saturday, Oct. 10, 15-year-old Yuleidy Ixcotoyac was on her way to an emergency medical center with her father, Abraham, because she was feeling unwell when she suddenly lost consciousness in their car. Her father, who is an evangelical pastor, immediately pulled the car over and checked for Yuleidy’s heartbeat and breathing.
During this time, Abraham claimed to have found her no longer breathing and lacking a pulse, and found her deceased on the spot, according to PerthNow. “I pulled over, parked my car, and went to her and saw the situation that she had simply ceased to exist,” Abraham told a local outlet. “She died on the way.”
She wakes up at her own funeral
Abraham returned home with his daughter’s body. While Yuleidy’s family immediately organized a funeral for her, purchasing a casket before holding her wake at the family’s home in El Jocote in Sacapulas, Quiché, at around 2:30pm the same day, surrounded by other family members.
As the family mourned Yuleidy, the teen’s mother, Lesvia Ríos, was crying over her daughter’s casket when she said she noticed something unexpected inside. In a surprising turn of events, Yuleidy began moving before she opened her eyes and sat up when the casket’s lid was removed—leaving the mourners stunned.
In the viral video shared of the incident, Yuleidy is seen surrounded by the now-relieved family as they quickly help her up the casket and hand her a glass of water. Other guests can also be heard yelling, “Hallelujah!”
According to the family, Yuleidy’s death wasn’t actually confirmed by a doctor, and a death certificate was never issued. Instead, the family promptly organized her funeral when they thought she had passed away. “It was a very difficult situation for me. She did not go to hospital,” her father confirmed.
Guatemalans quickly organize funerals
Per Guatemala’s laws, burials must be carried out within 24 hours of an individual’s passing when the body is not embalmed. Because embalming a body is not always available and can be costly, those in rural areas generally hold the funeral just a few hours after the death.
“I kept saying she was alive, that she wasn’t dead,” Yuleidy’s mother told a local outlet. “When I was crying on top of her casket, we opened the window, and she was moving. She was waking up, and suddenly she got up.”
Yuleidy herself felt like her waking up was a “miracle,” as she recalled the moment leading up to her sudden collapse: “My heart started hurting really badly. It felt heavy, and then I blacked out, like I fainted. I have no way to thank God for everything he has done in my life. It was a miracle.”
While the incident unfolded unexpectedly, Yuleidy and her family were grateful the ceremony didn’t have to continue. Health authorities have yet to comment on the incident, but Yuleidy is reportedly recovering at home.
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