A 15-year-old girl in Guatemala reportedly shocked her family after suddenly sitting up inside her coffin during a wake, hours after the teenager’s father believed she had died. The girl, identified as Yuleidy Ixcotoyac, had lost consciousness while her father, Abraham Ixcotoyac, was driving her to a medical center in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Father believed teenager had died after collapsing
Abraham, an evangelical pastor, immediately pulled over and checked his daughter’s pulse and breathing. He said he could detect neither and concluded that she had died. However, no doctor examined the teenager to confirm her death, according to her father. Authorities also did not issue an official death certificate.
The family purchased a coffin and arranged a wake at their home in El Jocote, Guatemala. Relatives and mourners gathered at around 2:30 p.m. to pay their respects.
Mother notices movement inside coffin
During the gathering, Yuleidy’s grieving mother, Lesvia Ríos, leaned over the coffin and noticed her daughter moving. Ríos told local media that she had repeatedly insisted her daughter was still alive. She said she noticed movement while crying over the coffin, shortly before Yuleidy opened her eyes and sat upright.
Video footage shows the teenager, wearing a pink T-shirt, sitting up inside the coffin and speaking as stunned relatives gather around her.
🚨🇬🇹 ESCALOFRIANTE: UNA ADOLESCENTE DESPERTÓ EN SU PROPIO ATAÚD EN GUATEMALA.
Llevaba ocho horas en un velatorio cuando los presentes notaron movimientos en el féretro. Su padre la había dado por muerta sin que recibiera atención médica. Está consciente y en recuperación. pic.twitter.com/7iOHflag5c
— Alerta en las Calles 🏙📢 (@AlertaArgNews) October 12, 2026
Family members reacted with disbelief before celebrating. Several people could be heard shouting “hallelujah” as they realized she was conscious. Relatives offered Yuleidy water and helped her out of the coffin. Footage of the incident later circulated online.
No medical confirmation of the teenager’s death
The footage does not establish that Yuleidy had been medically dead. Her father’s inability to detect a pulse or breathing does not necessarily mean her heart had stopped. The teenager later described experiencing severe chest pain and heaviness in her chest before losing consciousness. “My heart started hurting really badly; it felt heavy and then I blacked out, like I fainted,” she told local media.
Similar claims have emerged in Tanzania, where a man named Ismail Azizi reportedly returned from the dead six times, according to accounts featured in a documentary. Historical accounts also describe cases of mistaken death. The ancient Greek physician Asclepiades of Bithynia reportedly discovered that a person believed to be dead was still alive during a funeral procession in Rome.
Another account concerns Byzantine Emperor Zeno, who was allegedly buried alive after losing consciousness in 491. Later chroniclers claimed he regained consciousness inside his tomb, although historians have not verified the story. In Yuleidy’s case, the cause of her initial collapse remains unclear. No medical explanation for the incident has been confirmed. Further details about the teenager’s health following the wake were not immediately available.
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